Liverpool trigger Christian Benteke's release clause with £32.5m bid

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre, in Australia with the Reds' first-team squad for the second leg of the club's pre-season tour, has formally submitted their offer for Christian Benteke.

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He will now continue discussions with Villa over the finer details of the deal but Liverpool are hopeful of a swift conclusion to enable the Belgium international to join up with Brendan Rodgers' side as soon as possible.

The transfer fee is the vast majority of the money that Liverpool received from Manchester City for winger Raheem Sterling earlier this week.

The England international was sold for £49m but around £10m of that goes to his former club QPR and £5m of the payment is delayed.

If Liverpool do sign Benteke he will become the second most expensive player in the club's history behind Andy Carroll, who cost £35m when joining from Newcastle United in January 2011.

Liverpool are in the market for a new attacker after Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini all failed to command a regular place in Brendan Rodgers' team whilst Daniel Sturridge was absent for large parts of last season due to injury. Sterling was the club's top scorer in the Premier League last season with just seven goals.

In Benteke, Liverpool are set to recruit a player who has 49 goals in 101 appearances for Aston Villa over three seasons.

He struggled at the start of the 2014-15 campaign when recovering from injury but was rejuvenated under Tim Sherwood in the second half of the season, scoring 12 times in 12 games as Villa stayed up and reached the FA Cup final.

Liverpool's swift bid for Benteke shows that this was all part of their plan when they decided to sell Sterling. Demanding a fee for the England winger which would allow them to match the Belgian's release clause means there is nothing Aston Villa can do but accept their star striker will soon be leaving.

Benteke is not a striker who initially looks like someone who would suit Liverpool's fluid passing game so there may be a period of adjustment for both the player and the club over the first few months of the season. His signing will also mean that the Reds have seven recognised strikers in their first-team squad, meaning a few are sure to leave in the coming weeks.