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Christian Benteke remains Liverpool’s No 1 target – but there is no deal in place to sign the Aston Villa striker.

Reports this morning suggested that the Belgium international was on the brink of completing a move to Anfield.

However, the ECHO understands that the situation remains unchanged. Liverpool want to sign Benteke but are unwilling to pay the £32.5million asking price and that stand-off remains.

Liverpool don’t want to pay more than £25million for the big frontman, who has two years remaining on his current contract.

Villa have no interest in selling Benteke and are highly unlikely to accept lower than the release clause.

Part of the reason is that Villa will have to pass on 15% of any fee over £7m to his former club Genk, who negotiated a sell-on clause when he left his homeland in 2012.

If the release clause is met, that would be £3.8m heading to the Belgian outfit.

“There’s a buy-out clause in his contract so it will be impossible for us to stop him if he wants to go,” Villa boss Tim Sherwood said back in May.

“Someone’s got to meet that buy-out clause and if they don’t it won’t be considered because we don’t want to lose him.”

Since arriving from Genk in 2012, Benteke has scored 49 goals in 101 appearances for Villa.