Christian Benteke moving to liverpool as Liverpool prepare new transfer offer of £25m

Midlands club have already rejected Reds' £22m bid and insist they won't budge unless striker's £32.5m release clause is met — but he wants out

Liverpool will continue to splash the cash, even after stumping up £12.5million to make Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne their sixth signing of the summer.

And the Reds are expected to return to Aston Villa within the next few days with a massive new offer for Christian Benteke.

Boss Brendan Rodgers has had one bid of around £22m rejected by the Midlands club, who insist they will not come to the table concerning the Belgium international until a release clause of £32.5m is triggered.

But Benteke has told his Villa Park bosses he won’t be signing a new contract to stay beyond the 24 months remaining on his current deal.

The centre-forward - who has scored 49 goals in 99 Villa games since his £7m move from Genk in his homeland in 2012 - is currently on holiday, but it is thought he will return next week to reiterate his desire for a move.

And Liverpool are ready to follow that development up with an improved bid in excess of £25m, which they hope will tempt the Villans to take what would still be a big profit on an unhappy player.

Rodgers has long been a fan of Benteke, and would have bid for him last summer had the striker not been sidelined with a serious Achilles injury that cost him a World Cup place and kept him out until October.

Since then, he made up for lost time - and proved his fitness - with 15 goals.