Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has explained that Christian Benteke's whopping £32million price tag is not outrageous.

Palace smashed their record transfer fee to secure the services of Benteke from Liverpool in the summer window and many feel that the Eagles have overpaid to sign the Belgian international.

Parish also initially thought that Benteke's initial fee of £27m was too much but has explained that given the current nature of the transfer market, the Belgian has not been signed for such an exorbitant amount.

Parish said: "I thought it was madness. They (the investors) have more money than me!

"They looked seriously at buying Aston Villa before and so he (Benteke) was a player that was familiar to them and they wanted to do it.

"You do wrap your head around it, but looking at it now (and what has gone on in the transfer window) I don't think it was outrageous."