Liverpool’s Benteke in Palace talks – report

Daniel Storey

Liverpool striker Christian Benteke is in talks with Crystal Palace over a move.

Palace had a £25m bid for the Belgian rejected last month, but have re-opened talks after conceding that they will need to up their bid.

Liverpool have made it clear that they are prepared to let Benteke leave, but Jurgen Klopp has insisted that he will not allow the striker to leave on the cheap.

“Everyone knows about it. Christian has already said maybe it makes sense to go to another club. Christian is still a really great striker,” Klopp said.

“We have a few more strikers and I think it makes more sense to give them match time. But if there are clubs that want a real striker than they have to make real offers otherwise we will find solutions. A few clubs try to gamble but we are not part of this, we are serious.

“Maybe one or two things can happen. We will see what happens. If somebody wants a player then they have to pay because we only have good players.”

Liverpool can therefore be confident of recouping most of their £32.5m outlay on Benteke.

We live in a world where Crystal Palace will spend £30m on a striker.