Reds prepared to splash out £32.4million for Belgium
Liverpool will meet Christian Benteke’s release clause of £32.4million, according to Sky Sports News.
Reports emerged last night from the Liverpool Echo that The Reds were tempted to activate the striker’s clause in his contract, and it’s now been confirmed that it’s expected to happen sooner rather than later.
Benteke at Villa
The Aston Villa star was superb near the end of last season, playing a huge part in their survival in the Premier League and also their run to the FA Cup final, scoring against Liverpool at Wembley in the Semi-Final.
The 24-year-old is expected to leave Villa Park after Tim Sherwood admitted that he wouldn’t stand in his way, but the Midlands club were adamant that they wouldn’t accept any bid less than his release clause.
Chelsea and Manchester United were both briefly interested in the Belgium, but The Blues signed Radamel Falcao on loan and United dropped their interest because of the clause.
However, after Liverpool sold Raheem Sterling for £49m to Manchester City, they have money to spend and it looks like Brendan Rodgers is prepared to spend most of it on Benteke.
Liverpool Activity
Due to a sell-on clause in his contract, Queens Park Rangers got £10m of the Sterling transfer fee, leaving Liverpool with £39m of it and with £32.4m of that going on Benteke, it looks like The Reds‘ summer business maybe nearly done.
Rodgers has already signed six players in the form of; Danny Ings, James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Adam Bogdan, Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
