Liverpool reject £25 million Crystal Palace bid for Benteke

Liverpool reject a £25 million bid for striker Christian Benteke from Premier League rival Crystal Palace as they want to recover more of the £32.5 million they paid last year.

Liverpool want to get rid of Christian Benteke, but only on their terms.

On Friday the club that finished 8th in the Premier League table last season rejected a £25 million bid from another Premier League club, Crystal Palace, for the Belgium international.

Though Liverpool signed the 25-year-old last year, he has failed to impress the new boss Jurgen Klopp. He was signed under Klopp’s predecessor Brendan Rodgers, who pushed very hard for the signing last summer. After Rodgers failed to meet Liverpool’s high expectations through the first part of the 2015-2016 season, he was fired and Klopp brought in the replace him.

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Benteke had been good for Liverpool under Rodgers, scoring 7 goals in his first nine games as a Liverpool player. However, after that fast start, he managed only 3 goals in his final 23 appearances for the club across all competition last year.

(Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /

Klopp was not impressed by the Belgium international who could not handle his pressing play style, and he quickly fell after of favor. Going into next season, with Liverpool regaining a fully fit Danny Ings who missed most of last season with a knee injury and looking around the transfer market, Benteke looks like he has no place at the club.

While Liverpool does not seem to be in his future, they want to try to recover as much of transfer fee they paid for him as possible before they let him get on with his career. They are looking for £30 million with add-ons as a minimum, but that might not be able to get because of Benteke’s poor finish to last season. This will put Liverpool in a position where they can either take what they can get for him, or they can keep him and let him lay waste on the bench.