Liverpool transfers: Aston Villa won't stand in Christian Benteke's way if he wants to go admits Tim Sherwood
Deal with Man City for £50m-rated Raheem Sterling would put rebuilding Brendan Rodgers in position to sign the Belgian, Memphis Depay AND James Milner
- Deal with Man City for £50m-rated Raheem Sterling would put rebuilding Brendan Rodgers in position to sign the Belgian, Memphis Depay AND James Milner
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- Deal with Man City for £50m-rated Raheem Sterling would put rebuilding Brendan Rodgers in position to sign the Belgian, Memphis Depay AND James Milner
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- Deal with Man City for £50m-rated Raheem Sterling would put rebuilding Brendan Rodgers in position to sign the Belgian, Memphis Depay AND James Milner
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In and out? Liverpool could buy Benteke (left) if they sold Sterling
Raheem Sterling and Christian Benteke look set to spark a Premier League transfer money-go-round this summer.
Manchester City are planning a serious bid for £50million-rated
Liverpool forward Sterling, who is refusing to discuss a new deal to keep him at Anfield.
Selling
20-year-old Sterling would give Reds boss Brendan Rodgers the financial firepower to move for
striker Benteke, whose
Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood warned on Thursday would cost around £30m.
Sherwood said: “If a player doesn’t want to play for the club any more and the club he wants to go to meets the valuation, it’s best to let them go.
“It will be just a market value - what’s out there.
Neville Williams
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Deal with it: Sherwood won't keep Villa players who want to leave
"I don’t want to talk about selling Christian when I’ve got no intention of doing that. So it would have to be a lot of money for someone to get him off us.
“We are looking for players ourselves, so we know how much other clubs are looking at [as fees] for their players. He’ll be too expensive for a great deal of people in the Premier League. We want to keep our best players - and he’s certainly one of those.”
Rodgers will embark on an overhaul of his squad this summer, but
currently has a limited transfer budget of around £30m.
One man
he hopes to attract is James Milner, set to be available on a free from Man City when his contract expires at the end of the season.
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New home, James? Liverpool are keen on free-agent-to-be Milner
The 29-year-old is seen as a key figure for Rodgers, but the Reds - fifth with four games to go but only ahead of Tottenham on goal difference and just one point ahead of Southampton - will need to be able to offer him Europa League football at least.
England international Milner has a young family and is settled in the north-west, making Liverpool an attractive option for him... especially as they would be prepared to match the £90,000 a week wages he is on at City.
PSV Eindhoven and Holland forward
Memphis Depay is also set to head for Anfield, with Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal - who had been linked with a player he managed at last summer's World Cup - now exploring other options.
As many as 10 players will leave Anfield in the summer and Depay would swallow up most of Rodgers’ current transfer budget, leaving him needing to generate cash for other purchases.