Liverpool have reportedly agreed a deal with Aston Villa to sign Christian Benteke by triggering a release clause in his contract. The clause is said to be worth  £32.5 million and would render Villa powerless to stop Liverpool from entering negotiations with their player.

The Reds are pushing to complete the deal as soon as possible so that the 24-year-old can join up with the rest of the team on their pre-season tour. The deal is expected to go through in the next few days after personal terms are agreed followed by a medical.

Liverpool have been in desperate need of a good goalscorer ever since the departure of Luis Suarez. Their desperate attempts to replace the prolific Uruguayan with Mario Balotelli failed beyond comprehension but this time around the Reds have recruited one of the best young strikers in Danny Ings and Benteke. Both have very different playing styles but would actually compliment each others game.

Benteke would actually thrive at Liverpool due to their creative up-front and would offer a different dimension to the Liverpool attack. The Belgian international has scored 49 goals in 101 premier league appearances for the Lions and was crucial to Tim Sherwood’s side that avoided relegation last season scoring 12 goals.

The young Belgian has an amazing goalscoring record against Liverpool with 5 goals in 6 encounters but only time will tell whether Benteke would be successful with the Reds.