Last week came news of Tottenham Hotspur preparing a £20million bid for Christian Benteke. In terms of style, stature and quality, he's exactly what the Lilywhites need. The only problem is that their rumoured bid has come two years too late.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, yet I can't help but wonder what might've been if Spurs signed the Aston Villa striker (as I had suggested) in summer 2013. That was the transfer window in which the funds from Gareth Bale's record-breaking departure to Real Madrid were supposed to make Tottenham's flirtatious relationship with the Premier League's top four a permanent one; instead, it condemned them to three different managers in the space of six months and two more years of Europa League football.

Benteke was there for the taking in summer 2013. He'd just bagged 19 goals during his debut Premier League campaign - his highest total for a domestic season to date - and resultantly handed in a transfer request at Villa Park. Rumours poured in of interest from White Hart Lane, but eventually Daniel Levy and Co. found Villa's £25million valuation too rich for their blood.

Instead, Spurs invested £26million in Roberto Soldado, in comparison a considerably more proven goalscorer with a collective return of 128 goals in 251 appearances throughout his spells with Osasuna, Getafe and Valencia.

Yet, the two have gone on to enjoy (or endure in the latter's case) completely polarised Premier League careers. Benteke boasts 42 goals in 88 league outings for the Villains; Soldado has managed just seven in 52 for the Lilywhites - four of which have come from the penalty spot.

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No doubt, the Spain international is as talented a goalscorer as Benteke - perhaps even more so if we're talking purely in terms of technique in front of goal. But the intrinsic difference is their compatibility with the Premier League. Soldado, measuring in at 5 foot 10 and not particularly quick or strong, has always struggled to handle the physicality and intensity of the English top flight. The Belgian battering ram, on the other hand, is its walking epitome - the textbook definition of a Premier League centre-forward.

Even before Soldado arrived at White Hart Lane, it was obvious he'd need to do a lot of adapting. The two campaigns previous, Tottenham had averaged the first and second-most long shots per match of any Premier League side (in no small part due to Andros Townsend and Gareth Bale), but the 30 year-old's number of goals from outside the box for Valencia, from a total of 82, could be counted on one hand.

Likewise, even before Benteke emerged as one of the Premier League's most formidable target men after carrying his near one-in-two ratio over the next two seasons, it was obvious the then-22-year-old was blessed with all the requisites to become one of the division's top goalscorers. Obvious to everybody, except perhaps Daniel Levy.

Of course, whether Benteke could've handled the pressure of representing a Champions League-contending club at that age remains open to debate. He would've been charged with the task of filling Gareth Bale's goalscoring void during a season in which the Lilywhites were always destined to move either backwards of forwards. Just as Erik Lamela, Paulinho and Soldado - the three most expensive signings in White Hart Lane history - have bore the brunt of supporters' disillusionment, the 6 foot 3 target-man may have also ended up as a member of that undesirable cohort.

Yet, Tottenham's toils during the intermittent period make you wonder if it could've been different. Perhaps they still would've missed out on the Champions League, but perhaps Andre Villa Boas would still be in the hot seat and perhaps the 2013 transfer window would have been deemed considerably more successful.

Perhaps Emmanuel Adebayor would've been sold by now - or at the very least, completely forgotten about - and perhaps Benteke's added firepower could've lead the Lilywhites to a trophy in one of the auxiliary competitions. It's all hypothetical, of course, but the Belgium international was and still is the striker Tottenham need.

Spurs are trying to make up for lost time with a £20million bid but something tells me they'll find themselves eclipsed in the race for Benteke's signature. After all, half of Europe will be looking for a new centre-forward this summer and the 24-year-old has continually proved his goalscoring abilities in the toughest top flight in world football.

Whilst the Lilywhites are hoping for a £20million deal, other suitors will be prepared to pay Benteke's £32.5million release clause outright.

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