Christian Benteke expected to stay at Aston Villa

Christian Benteke: Expected to stay

Tim Sherwood believes Liverpool target Christian Benteke will stay at Aston Villa despite the Reds' recent Raheem Sterling windfall.

With Liverpool set to pocket just over £40million from the sale of Raheem Sterling after QPR's 20 percent cut, the Reds are now likely to target a striker, with Daniel Sturridge plagued by injury and Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert all having struggled for form.

Villa front-man Benteke is believed to be top of Liverpool's list of potential strikers, with the Belgian carrying a £32.5m release clause for any possible suitors.

Sherwood has previously expressed his confidence over keeping their star striker, and even despite Liverpool's recent windfall, he remains adamant Benteke will stay at Villa Park.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, the Villa boss said: "I think he stays.

"I think Liverpool - I looked the other day - have six or seven strikers at the club. Now I’m not sure how many they actually need.

We know Christian is a very good player and we want to keep hold of him.

"If someone matches that buy-out clause there is nothing we can do about it but until that happens he is an Aston Villa player and we are all very pleased about that."

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Manchester City seal signing of Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling: Seals Manchester City move

Manuel Pellegrini hailed "one of the best attacking players in world football" after Man City confirmed the £49m signing of Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed on Monday that a deal for Sterling to join City was in place after the two clubs finally agreed a fee of around £49m for the England winger.

Two bids, the first believed to be £25m and the second reportedly £40m, had already been rejected by the Anfield outfit, but City returned with a third and final bid in order to secure Sterling's services.

The 20-year-old joins Manuel Pellegrini's men on a reported five-year deal, and revealed his delight at finally securing his main summer target.

"Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in world football," he told City's official website. "He is a young player with outstanding ability."

"I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week.

"I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team."

Sterling becomes the most-expensive English player ever, dethroning the Reds' own purchase of Andy Carroll in 2011.

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Divock Origi and Lazar Markovic score as Liverpool beat Thai All-Stars

Lazar Markovic (c): Celebrates putting Liverpool ahead

Liverpool opened their 2015/16 pre-season by easing to a comfortable 4-0 win over Thai All-Stars, with Divock Origi scoring on his Reds debut.

Two goals in each half sent the Reds to a simple victory to kick-start their pre-season, with Lazar Markovic and Mamadou Sakho netting in the first-half, and Adam Lallana and Divock Origi - in his first appearance in a Liverpool shirt - rounding off the scoring in the second period.

With Raheem Sterling's Anfield exit all but confirmed, Brendan Rodgers will have been delighted to see five of his summer signings take to the pitch in Bangkok.

Adam Bodgan, Joe Gomez and Danny Ings started the match in the sweltering conditions of the capital city, before Nathaniel Clyne and James Milner made their bows after the break.

It was a signing from last summer's ill-fated spree that broke the deadlock early on however, with Serbia winger Markovic latching onto Joao Teixeira's pass to round the keeper and slot home.

With just nine days of training and a 14-hour flight barely behind them, the Reds would have been forgiven for looking off the pace against their hosts, and new keeper Adam Bodgan was almost beaten by a Jakkapan Pornsai free-kick after 20 minutes.

But the class of the Premier League side shone through against their opponents, with Teixeira again the provider as Sakho headed home a corner just before the break.

Ings and Rickie Lambert impressed as a front two, with the latter having a goal chalked off and the former Burnley man unlucky not to connect with a cross midway through the first-half, before Rodgers fielded an entirely different side in the second half.

Along with the substitutes came torrential rain, but it didn't put a dampener on new captain Jordan Henderson, who supplied an excellent assist for Adam Lallana's powerful drive just after 50 minutes.

Henderson then matched the exploits of team-mate Teixeira, lofting in the cross that saw Belgian forward Origi rise highest to head home after he missed a gilt-edged chance earlier.

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Raheem Sterling having Manchester City medical

Raheem Sterling: Set to join Manchester City from Liverpool

Raheem Sterling is having his Manchester City medical as his £49million transfer from Liverpool nears completion.

Brendan Rodgers confirmed on Monday the deal to make Sterling the most expensive English footballer would go through subject to a medical check.

And the 20-year-old, who turned down the offer of a new Liverpool contract earlier this year, will join City's pre-season tour of Australia  the move is completed.

Merseyside Police, meanwhile, continue to investigate after abusive messages aimed at Sterling's three-year-old daughter were posted on twitter.

A spokesman for the force said: "We are taking the incident extremely seriously and an investigation by detectives in Liverpool CID is on-going.

"People who use the internet to target others and who commit criminal offences such as harassment or hate crime are not beyond the law and can expect to be brought to justice."

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Ex-Liverpool players talk down Sterling

Raheem Sterling: Set to follow Luis Suarez out of Liverpool

Raheem Sterling did not "deliver" for Liverpool last season and will not be missed in the way Luis Suarez is, according to Phil Thompson.

Sterling is on the verge of completing a £49million transfer from Liverpool to Manchester City, but Thompson does not believe the forward will be as big a loss as Suarez was when he joined Barcelona 12 months ago.

"He's certainly a good player, but he's not a great player and that's why you won't find too many Liverpool fans shedding any tears for him," Thompson said in the Daily Mirror.

"Last season wasn't a great season for him. The one before that he did well with Suarez. But last year we were looking for a lot from him, but he didn't deliver.

"Luis Suarez is world class, but Sterling is nowhere near Suarez's capabilities, although he's still a very good player.

"City are paying for potential. Raheem's had 13 or 14 assists in the three years and has scored something like 18 league goals. You need a little bit more than that."

Jamie Carragher agrees with Thompson that Sterling is far from the finished article, suggesting City are paying double what the 20-year-old is actually worth.

He told the Daily Mail: "There's no doubt it's an astronomical amount of money considering his career so far. It's a great price for Liverpool and City are paying well over the odds.

"It should be £25m to £30m but the reason it's so high is that City are so desperate to have English-born players - and not just squad players, but people who will go straight into the first team. Liverpool have exploited that."

Another former Liverpool player, John Aldridge, believes the Reds have a ready-made replacement for Sterling in Jordan Ibe.

"Certainly with Raheem, Liverpool have got more than enough there to play that position," he said.

"A young lad called Jordan Ibe, who I've been watching since he was 15, is a terrific young player and a fantastic young talent. And he could in my opinion could surpass Raheem. He's got everything going if nurtured in the right way.

"What Liverpool need to do is go out and spend wisely and get that elusive striker that we missed last year. The striker who's going to give you 20 goals-plus - and pay whatever you need to pay to get him."

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Skrtel: Liverpool a bigger club than Inter

Martin Skrtel: Liverpool defender was linked with Inter Milan

Martin Skrtel insists it was always his preference to stay at Liverpool and reckons he would have left for a smaller club had he joined Inter.

Skrtel revealed in June that he had rejected an "unacceptable" contract offer from Liverpool and was subsequently linked with several clubs, including Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan.

However, the 30-year-old insists he always wanted to remain at Anfield.

"My son was born in Liverpool - and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to stay, Skrtel said.

"Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in the world in my eyes and I was always dreaming about one day playing in England and for a big club like Liverpool.

"My dream came true and I have been here almost eight years in the city and we are used to it now.

"The thing is when you play for a club like Liverpool, it's not always just about the money. It's about the fans, the people working for the club and everything about the city.

"I am supposed to have been going somewhere every single transfer window - but I can say I am happy because I am staying at Liverpool and they were always my first choice.

"The talks were a little longer than they usually are, but at the end of the day we agreed - and that is the most important thing.

"Obviously there was talk about that but the priority for me was always to stay at Liverpool and sign a new contract. Inter Milan are a big club but, to my mind, Liverpool are bigger."

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Police probing Raheem Sterling Twitter abuse

Raheem Sterling is set to complete his move from Liverpool to Manchester City this week

Police are investigating abusive messages on Twitter directed at the three-year-old daughter of Raheem Sterling.

Officers are probing the messages, which were sent after it was reported that the Liverpool forward is moving to Manchester City for £49million.

Many of the tweets have since been deleted but some Twitter users took screen grabs of the threatening messages and urged Merseyside Police to investigate.

A spokesman for the force said: "We are taking the incident extremely seriously and an investigation by detectives in Liverpool CID is on-going.

"People who use the internet to target others and who commit criminal offences such as harassment or hate crime are not beyond the law and can expect to be brought to justice."

Sterling is expected to have his medical at City on Tuesday.

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