Christian Benteke is willing to stay and fight for his place at Liverpool, with any prospect of the striker leaving currently impossible due to the club pricing him out of the market.
Liverpool have fielded several inquiries about Benteke’s availability, including from Crystal Palace and West Ham United, but are insisting he will cost £32.5m, the fee they paid Aston Villa for him last summer.
A prospective deal for him to join Palace broke down as the south London club are unwilling to answer Liverpool’s asking price having increased their opening offer of £25m to a deal worth £27m up front which could rise to a club-record £31.5m.
It is understood other potential moves for Benteke have also faltered for the same reason. The Belgian is conscious of this and is now focused on staying and trying to force his way into Jürgen Klopp’s first-team plans.
Benteke, 25, has scored 51 Premier League goals for Villa and Liverpool at a ratio of better than one in every two games – a strike per 173.5 minutes.
Klopp recently informed Mario Balotelli that the centre-forward has no future at Liverpool. This means Benteke will compete with Daniel Sturridge, Robert Firmino, Divock Origi and Danny Ings for playing time.
Benteke has struggled to establish himself in the starting XI under Klopp, the German coach having replaced Brendan Rodgers, who signed the Belgium international last July. Benteke featured 42 times last season for the side.