Liverpool trigger £32.5m Benteke clause, possibly in reaction to Manchester United

Christian Benteke is well on his way to being a Liverpool player after Brendan Rodgers has  offered £32.5 million for the Aston Villa striker and triggered his release clause. The move comes mere hours after it was widely reported that Manchester United were about to make an offer of their own. Now that Liverpool have indeed triggered the clause, the only thing that can prevent a Benteke move away from Aston Villa is a disagreement on personal terms between him and the Reds.

Until this morning, it had seemed as if Brendan Rodgers was set on trying to get Benteke for less than the clause. But Aston Villa were standing firm, and Tim Sherwood had made clear his intention of not letting Benteke go for less. The general idea seemed to be "if you don't want to give us the money to rebuild, we're not going to have an excuse to rebuild."

I wonder now, though, if Manchester United will act quickly and try and get a bid in themselves. If given a choice of being a first-choice striker a Liverpool or at a Champions League club, I imagine Benteke would be considerably more interested in the latter. He's a great player, and I don't begrudge him the move, I just wish it were somewhere where he would be more appreciated.