Christian Benteke is moving ever closer to becoming the fourth most expensive sale in Liverpool’s history as Crystal Palace is ready for a second bid that is potentially rising to £31.5 million. The Reds rebuffed an opening offer of £25m from Alan Pardew’s side, insisting that they would not compromise on their £30m valuation of the Belgian international.
Goal understands the Merseysiders were yet to receive Palace’s improved proposal, understood to be a basic sum of £27m with add-ons that could pump up the figure by a further £4.5m. Liverpool would, however, need to analyse the plausibility of any additional add-on fees, as they are determined to recoup the majority of the £32.5m they paid Aston Villa for the forward last summer.
Should Jurgen Klopp’s side be guaranteed £30m, only Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Raheem Sterling would command a higher fee than the Belgian.