Christian Benteke Reveals He Wants to Play for Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola

Liverpool's stumbled start to the 2015-16 campaign hasn't been helped by Christian Benteke's admission that he'd like to work for rival Premier League manager Jose Mourinho in the future.

When asked by Belgian Sport Magazine which managers he'd like to play under, the injured Reds frontman admitted the Chelsea boss as one, the other being Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola (h/t the Daily Star's Rhys Turrell). 

"Jose Mourinho and [Bayern Munich boss] Pep Guardiola," Benteke said. "Not only because of their achievements: They have won everything. Their approach is completely different and it is also why I would like to work with both."

Jon Super/Associated Press

The interview unlikely to do his Anfield standing many favours, Benteke went on to proclaim the weather in England is something of a hinderance, "especially in Liverpool."      

The comments may be seen as strangely timed too, considering they come at a time when Mourinho's Chelsea are struggling for results and currently sit 14th in the Premier League, five places below Liverpool.

Benteke has netted two goals under manager Brendan Rodgers since moving to Merseyside from Aston Villa this summer, but his own manager is currently under fire after a difficult start to the new season.

And Laurie Whitwell of the Daily Mail provided quotes from Villa boss Tim Sherwood, who said the Birmingham outfit wouldn't have sold their prized possession were it not for the buyout clause in his deal:

"

When the phones were in the wall I was pulling them all out hoping that 0151 call wouldn't come. But I couldn't do it in time and they got through to the chief exec and the people who make decisions at the club.

It was taken out of our hands. It was something everyone expected because he is top drawer. We would have liked to have kept him. We valued him at a lot more than that but the clause was in there for a reason and Liverpool matched it.

"

That being said, the chances of Benteke figuring under Mourinho or Guardiola in each manager's current settings seem minuscule. Diego Costa is already leading Chelsea's attack, while Robert Lewandowski is in the form of his life at the Allianz Arena, leading Bayern Munich with seven goals in his last two Bundesliga games.

Impressive though Benteke was before earning himself a big-money move to Anfield—and since—he perhaps hasn't done quite enough to be worthy of dethroning those kinds of talents just yet.

That being said, Bleacher Report's Stefan Bienkowski suggested Benteke could fit right in at the Allianz Arena, where Bayern promote the kind of play he'd be likely to profit from:

While it's pleasing to hear any player speak openly and honestly in his opinion, Benteke may have been wiser to omit the name of a direct Premier League rival when talking of managers he admires most.

The 24-year-old has been struggling to battle back from injury over the past week, and the Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle has suggested Danny Ings may have have taken priority in Liverpool's XI during his absence.

Ings formed an attacking partnership with Daniel Sturridge in the Reds' 3-2 win over Aston Villa last Saturday, the first time this Premier League season the club have scored more than one goal in any fixture.