Christian Benteke rules out Crystal Palace exit: 'I want to be part of this project'

Christian Benteke today said he wants to stay at Crystal Palace and dismissed talk of a possible move to Everton.

Everton are said to have identified the Belgium striker as a possible replacement for Romelu Lukaku, but the 26-year-old insists he is happy at Selhurst Park.

New Palace manager Frank de Boer does not want to sell Benteke and the club record £27million signing said: “I am very happy. Since we came back for pre-season I did not really want to talk but I want to be here.

“I want to be part of the project of the manager. I want to perform and to score more goals and to really help the team to reach where they want to be.

“There is the World Cup [next summer] and that is an important aspect of being with the club — and you have to perform to be part of that group.”

De Boer has admitted Palace need more signings before the new season but refused to comment on reports that the Eagles have bid £16m for Arsenal defender Calum Chambers.

De Boer did, however, confirm Palace are close to signing Ajax defender Jairo Riedewald. The 20-year-old is set to move to Selhurst Park in a deal worth around £8m.

De Boer said: “It is not 100 per cent done, so we have to wait. Hopefully, it is going to be a very short time. We still need a quality injection. If we want to be a solid club we need to get some extra players.”