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Tim Sherwood has reaffirmed Aston Villa’s determination to keep hold of Liverpool transfer target Christian Benteke.

The Reds are looking to agree a deal for the Belgium international but are unwilling to trigger the £32.5million release clause in his contract.

Sherwood says the Midlanders won’t budge over the fee because they don’t want to sell and the Villa boss is still planning for the season ahead with Benteke on board.

“We want Christian here,” he told Sky Sports News.

“We want to keep our best players and Christian is certainly one of those”.

After winning a £100 bet with a Sky reporter after insisting last season that owner Randy Lerner wouldn’t sell up, Sherwood was happy to strike another wager over Benteke.

“Yeah, another £100 that he will,” Sherwood said when asked whether Benteke would still be a Villa player come September.

The 24-year-old striker has scored 49 goals in 101 appearances for Villa since signing from Genk in 2012.