Benteke keen on Crystal Palace stay despite £15m interest from China

Christian Benteke is keen to remain at Crystal Palace despite interest from Marouane Fellaini's Chinese club Shandong Luneng Taishan, Goal understands.

The Chinese Super League side are interested in signing the Belgian striker and are keen to enter talks over a £15 million ($19m) move.

However, the 28-year-old wants to remain in London and be afforded more time to prove himself to manager Roy Hodgson after two years of struggles at Selhurst Park.

Palace may be keen to offload the striker, however, with Benteke only having a year remaining on his current deal, with there being the risk of losing him for free in 2020.

Benteke played 19 times in the 2018-19 campaign and started in only nine of those games, with the former Aston Villa striker scoring just once, in the shock 3-2 away win at Arsenal. 

His path to the starting XI was further blocked by Palace's signing of Michy Batshuayi on loan in January as the Chelsea striker impressed in the final few months of the season.

Hodgson has admitted to being open to either signing the 25-year-old permanently or extending his loan period, but the Blues are not yet ready to negotiate for their forward.

It remains possible that Batshuayi could get one last chance at Stamford Bridge as the two-window transfer ban takes effect.

Maurizio Sarri has yet to have his future confirmed by the Blues, however, as Juventus consider buying him out of his £5m contract, delaying decisions about various first-team players and those who had been out on loan.

There is likely to be plenty of talk over the futures of two of Palace's key players over the summer, with both Wilfried Zaha and Aaron Wan-Bissaka having been linked with big-money exits.

Ivory Coast winger Zaha has expressed his desire to play in the Champions League, although reports have suggested that Palace will demand a £100m ($126m) fee for their star man.

Wan-Bissaka, meanwhile, has been linked with the likes of Manchester City and United after an impressive 2018-19 season that saw him emerge as one of the Premier League's top right-sided full-backs.

Palace finished the season in 12th place in the table, one point behind FA Cup runners-up Watford.