West Bromwich Albion may have to break their transfer record to sign Christian Benteke from Liverpool. The club need to rebuild their strike force because Saido Berahino is expected to leave while Benteke will be allowed to move on, although Liverpool are keen on recouping much of the £32.5m they paid Aston Villa for the Belgian last year.
Crystal Palace are also interested in the 25-year-old, who has scored nine goals in 14 league starts for Liverpool but has slipped down the pecking order since Jürgen Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers.
West Bromwich pulled the plug on a record £15m deal for West Ham’s Diafra Sakho last week after it became clear he would not be fit until September. And they want to line up a new signing before allowing Berahino to leave, though the club have accepted it is time to cash in on the former England Under-21 international.
Last summer Berahino was keen on a move and when West Bromwich rejected two bids for the player on deadline day from Tottenham Hotspur the striker said he would never play again for the then chairman, Jeremy Peace. The row was patched up but overshadowed much of the player’s season.
Palace also want Berahino, with an offer of £20m plus add-ons on the table, while Stoke have offered a £20m package for the 23-year-old.
West Brom were bought from Peace by Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited last week, headed by a Chinese entrepreneur, Guochuan Lai. The new owner is prepared to give the green light to a third bid for Leicester’s Jeff Schlupp. West Brom have had two bids rejected for the Ghana international but have never given up on the left-sided player. They will let the defender James Chester go, having accepted an offer from Aston Villa.
Chester has struggled for first-team opportunities at The Hawthorns since joining from Hull for £8m last summer. He made only nine league starts and was often played out of position. He will again be behind Jonas Olsson, Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley.
Chester impressed during Wales’s run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals in France and made the most challenges and interceptions of any player in the tournament, with 36.