Thursday 15 December 2016 11:59, UK
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has opened up on his Liverpool exit and says he was desperate not to become a "loser".
The 26-year-old Belgium international arrived at Anfield in a £32.5m deal from Aston Villa in July 2015, but struggled to impress and was sold to Palace for £27m just over a year later.
Benteke, who has reignited his career at Selhurst Park with eight goals in 13 Premier League games, insisted his relationship with Jurgen Klopp was "good" but admitted his final days at Liverpool had been a challenge.
"When Klopp came in, given the players available to him ... I wasn't among his first choices," Benteke told French newspaper L'Equipe.
"Given the way he wanted to play, perhaps there were more interesting players than me. But I'm not a child: I didn't cry, I didn't moan, even if of course I wanted to play. It was frustrating.
"You can't allow yourself to give up, to stay in the situation of a loser, so you try to find a solution, to be happy. I found that by coming to Crystal Palace, and I'm happy today."
Regarding his new boss, Benteke added: "It's thanks to Alan Pardew that I came here, because he believes in me. I needed to get some playing time. I scored early, which was important."
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