Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Belgian international striker Christian Benteke from Barclays Premier League rivals Aston Villa for a fee of £32.5million.
The Reds broke the news via their official Twitter account on Wednesday night as the 24-year-old becomes manager Brendan Rodgers’ seventh signing of the summer.
The 24-year-old signed his contract with #LFC today after successfully completing a medical #BentekeLFC pic.twitter.com/b4rPKFqEhH
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 22, 2015
With the Merseyside outfit struggling for goals for the majority of last season, they have turned to a striker who scored almost 50 goals for Villa in just over 100 appearances for the club since his arrival from Genk in the summer of 2012.
Following the departure of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City for £49million last week, the Reds, who finished sixth in the Premier League last season, have spent the majority of that money on Benteke and will he hoping he does a better job on Merseyside than that of club record signing Andy Carroll.
Benteke joins the likes of Roberto Firmino, James Milner and Danny Ings as new recruits for the Reds and Rodgers will be hopeful that the added goal threat can help the club challenge for the a place in the top-four this season.