Aston Villa are a side that have had to transition on a number of occasions, during their relegation and subsequent return to the Premier League.

Throughout that period they have had some star players, but none more iconic than Christian Benteke.

The Belgian “beast” of a forward - as he was labelled by former Arsenal man Chuba Akpom - will likely be remembered by newer fans as a bumbling striker with no confidence in front of goal, but at Villa Park he was sensational.

In 101 appearances for the Villans, he managed 49 goals and 12 assists. This was for a side that had hovered around the relegation zone for almost every season that he featured.

19 goals and four assists in 34 Premier League games in his debut season were enough to outline him as their main man, especially considering the measly £7m price that they acquired him for.

They squeezed every last drop of goals from the goliath and eventually shipped him off to Liverpool in a deal worth £32.5m, marking a £25.5m profit.

Although they lost arguably their best player, his form seemed to drop off a cliff after he left the Midlands, suggesting they picked the right time to get rid.

Despite a solid return of nine goals for the Reds in his first season, he missed an astounding nine big chances.

The once “powerful” striker - as dubbed by Musa Okwonga - who would dominate games had left a side that played to his strengths for a Brendan Rodgers (and later Jurgen Klopp) team that rejected the idea of a target man.

He was shipped out of Anfield just a year after he arrived, and he would never again reach the heights he hit during that 2012/13 season.

Now, the 31-year-old turns out for Wayne Rooney in the MLS, signalling the ending of his career.

It has been a solid if unspectacular career for Benteke, who at Villa suggested he could be one of the league's best strikers for years.

Instead, a series of poor career decisions and a seeming loss of confidence meant that Tim Sherwood made the right call to let him go when he did, as they made a huge profit and never had to see him succeed the way he had done for them.