Christian Benteke Liverpool transfer latest: All you need to know about Reds move for Aston Villa striker

Aston Villa are continuing to play hardball with Liverpool over the sale of striker Christian Benteke.

The Belgian forward has a release clause in place of £32.5m which the Midlands club are refusing to budge from, while the Reds value the 24-year-old at nearer £25m.

The £49m sale of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City has armed Brendan Rodgers with expendable funds, with the deal expecting to provoke a fresh bid for Benteke.

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But Villa manager Tim Sherwood remains as adamant as ever that the striker will not be leaving Villa Park.

Sherwood insists that Liverpool, who currently boast Danny Ings, Divock Origi, Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and the injured Daniel Sturridge in their attacking ranks, don’t need to sign another striker.

He said: "I think Liverpool - I looked the other day - have six or seven strikers at the club. Now I'm not sure how many they actually need. We know Christian is a very good player and we want to keep hold of him.

"If someone matches that buyout clause, there is nothing we can do about it. But until that happens, he is an Aston Villa player and we are all very pleased about that."

The futures of three of those strikers; Lambert, Balotelli and Borini, remain firmly in doubt, particularly with the latter two left out of Liverpool’s pre-season tour.

Borini is on the verge of ending his bizarre affiliation with the Reds as Lazio are reportedly close to agreeing a fee, while Balotelli has been linked with a loan move to Fiorentina.

The former’s departure is expected to act as a catalyst to the Reds’ latest approach for Benteke, but it remains to be seen whether they will submit to the full release clause or reach a compromise with Villa.

Benteke, who is one of just six players to score at least ten goals in the last three Premier League seasons, was described as 'unplayable' during a purple patch at the back end of the last campaign which saw him strike 12 times in 13 games.

But is the fanfare around the Belgian justified?

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