Leandro Bacuna admits it way be a difficult task keeping Christian Benteke at the club this summer.

The Belgian striker scored twice in Saturday's 3-2 win over Everton to make it 11 goals in his past nine outings, keeping him well in the sights of Liverpool, who have been credited with a significant interest recently.

Of Benteke, who is contract until the summer of 2017, Villa teammate Bacuna says he would love the former Genk ace to remain in the West Midlands but knows it will be tricky to keep him.

"I live about one minute from him and go around his place," said Bacuna. "We talk about his future a little bit, but we don't know what's going to happen.

"It's going to be hard to hang onto him.

"I don't know if he is the best striker in the Premier League, but he is definitely one of the best. He was injured, he came back, he needed a few games to get back to his best again, and now he is really doing good.

"For us as a team, it's really important to know that if you're losing a game, he can help you, and if you're winning a game he can finish it off."