Aston Villa play hardball with Liverpool over Christian Benteke buyout

Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2015 by theguardian.com

Liverpool are set to step up their pursuit of Christian Benteke in the wake of Raheem Sterling’s departure to Manchester City but Aston Villa remain adamant that the Belgium international will not be allowed to leave unless the £32.5m buyout clause in his contract is met.

Talks will take place between Liverpool and Villa over the coming days now that the Sterling saga is over, with Benteke seen as the proven Premier League goalscorer that Brendan Rodgers needs to give his team the cutting edge that was so badly missing last season.

Liverpool have been reluctant to make an offer that would automatically trigger a deal for Benteke, with the feeling inside Anfield being that £32.5m exceeds the player’s valuation. That stance will need to change, however, if Liverpool are serious about signing a player who has scored 42 Premier League goals for Villa across three relegation-threatened seasons.

Villa intend to dig their heels in over Benteke’s price and are not concerned that they run the risk of the player still being at the club next summer with only 12 months remaining on his contract.

For Benteke, who has made it clear to Villa that he wants to leave, there is a feeling that the next week will be critical in terms of whether there is a breakthrough and Liverpool’s interest turns into something more concrete.

Tim Sherwood, the Villa manager, sounded bemused at the idea that Liverpool, with so many forwards already at the club, would be interested in signing Benteke. “I looked the other day. I think they’ve got six or seven strikers at the club now. I’m not sure how many they actually need,” Sherwood said.

''We know Christian is a very good player and we want to keep hold of him. If someone matches that buyout clause, there’s nothing we can do about it. But until that happens he’s an Aston Villa player and we’re all very pleased about that.

I think Christian is worth more than £32m. But we don’t want to sell him. We don’t want the £32m. It’s very hard to spend that sort of money. When you’re losing a player and trying to bring in someone to subsidise it, it’s almost impossible.”

Sherwood also confirmed that Randy Lerner is likely to remain as Villa’s owner for the foreseeable future, after the manager claimed that a possible takeover has collapsed. “I think it’s dead now, to be honest,” Sherwood said. “It was fairly live and I think the people who were talking are now not there.

''The chairman is picking it up and running with it now. I’m not sure if anyone is too close now. Until it’s done it’s never there. Randy hasn’t said [it’s over] but he is the one who is making the decisions regarding the players. He is willing to back us to the hilt.

''But he can only back us to the tune of financial fair play. That means there might have to be some exits from the club before we can get in some more.”