The Reds have reached an agreement with Aston Villa over the structure of Christian Benteke’s move from Aston Villa, according to Liverpool Echo reporter James Pearce.
According to Pearce, the 24-year-old is set to undergo a medical ahead of his £32.5m move next week. He states that the two club’s chief executives – Ian Ayre and Tom Fox – have been locked in negotiations since the buyout clause was met earlier this week, with the former working through the night in Adelaide to seal the transfer.
In addition, he says that personal terms with Benteke have also been agreed and tells us that Liverpool’s club doctor Andy Massey will leave the tour tonight and fly back to the UK from South Australia. Massey will conduct Benteke’s medical in London on either Monday night or Tuesday morning.
The deal will not be done in time for the Belgian to play in any part in our remaining tour games against Adelaide United and the Malaysia XI.
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Former Liverpool great Craig Johnston could not be happier at the news. The former midfielder, who won the European Cup with us in 1984, confirmed that he’d welcome the addition of the powerhouse striker.
In quotes taken by the Echo, he said: “Absolutely, I welcome that signing. We need a bit of nastiness up front. Bring it on. Let’s hope that this season we can do something special again because we weren’t far off a couple of years ago.
“We should have won the league. We need to get back to that level. Brendan’s a good man and we’re all hoping for better this season.”