It took just an hour for Christian Benteke to withdraw his transfer request and pen new terms with Aston Villa last week.

The Daily Mail says Villa had placed a £25million valuation on the head of the forward to ward off interest from Tottenham. Benteke handed in a transfer request on the back of that in the hope of securing a move to White Hart Lane.

When it failed to materialise, an hour-long meeting with Lambert, allied to some quick decision-making and action by owner Randy Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner, ended with the player making a spectacular U-turn.

Benteke secured a whopping pay rise, lifting his wages beyond the £2.5m-a-year mark as he became the eighth player to earn himself a new deal.