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Liverpool are yet to spend any money on transfer fees this summer despite having agreed deals to bring three players in--James Milner, Danny Ings, and Adam Bogdan were all out of contract at their respective clubs, and while Liverpool will end up paying Burnley compensation via England's tribunal system, there hasn't been any cash spent in the summer transfer window. That will change at some point, and rumors on Monday indicate that the first two fax machines to receive IOU's could be at Aston Villa and Southampton in order to bring in Christian Benteke and Nathaniel Clyne.
Deals to bring the pair to Merseyside are, per the Mirror, apparently contingent on finalizing a destination for Raheem Sterling, whose move away will bring in a windfall for the club in the region of £40m to 50m and allow Liverpool to afford both. Where that destination is depends on the willingness of potential suitors to pay up; thus far only Manchester City appears serious, and even then there's no guarantee that they'll submit the £40m that it's reported Liverpool are willing to consider.
Raheem Sterling's future home has become less and less of a concern for Liverpool supporters, however, with much of the focus on how the money from his sale will be used. If true--and it's a big if given that it's the Mirror--that it's earmarked for the purchases of Bentke and Clyne is of significant concern, especially regarding the former.
The purchase of Clyne is both understandable and reasonable, and reports on Monday suggest that the club will be after the England international regardless of what happens with Sterling. At £11m, which, according to Paul Joyce at the Daily Express, Liverpool reportedly believe will be enough to bring him in, he's well worth the money and would represent an excellent value for cost.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Benteke, especially if Liverpool use any incoming money from the sale of Sterling to help meet the Belgian's reported release clause of £32.5m. Maybe around £15m would be understandable right now, and £20m in a situation late in the summer without other options--ones that would be both more affordable and of higher quality and better fit--readily available. But £32.5m, with the sale of Raheem Sterling pushed through to fund it, would be a major mistake.
Thankfully at the present time it's rumor-by-number stuff, at least as far as Benteke is concerned, and the most recent reports with any sort of credibility suggest that Liverpool won't go near Benteke's buyout whether or not Sterling is sold. Hopefully that continues to be the case as the summer progresses, and any sort of money set aside for a striker is spent far more wisely.
