Christian Benteke to Liverpool: Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini set for Anfield exit as £32.5m Belgian striker arrives

There is interest from West Brom in Lambert and West Ham have indicated they want to sign Borini

Christian Benteke’s first game for Liverpool could be a friendly in Helsinki a week on Saturday (Getty Images)

Christian Benteke will complete his £32.5m move from Aston Villa to Liverpool on Wednesday, with the club awaiting offers that will see Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini leave.

The arrival of Benteke, 24, will take the club’s spending this summer to more than £75m on seven players, with the £49m earned by Raheem Sterling’s sale to Manchester City making up the vast majority of incoming funds. The emphasis now is on making some space in Brendan Rodgers’ playing squad.

There is interest from West Bromwich Albion in Lambert and West Ham have indicated they want to sign Borini, but there has been no formal offer from either club. Lambert would be available for around £3m, just a year after he arrived. Borini could be worth more, with the potential for him to command a fee of around £8m.

Rickie Lambert only managed to find the net twice during last season's league campaign (Getty) (Getty Images)

The striker Mario Balotelli is also another whom Liverpool would like to move on this summer. At the moment the likelihood is that he will get a loan move towards the end of the window, with an option to sign him permanently agreed with his new club. The Italian stirred controversy among Liverpool fans when he tweeted his congratulations to Raheem Sterling for his first goal for Manchester City, describing it as the “best answer”.

Benteke underwent a medical in London while Liverpool arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the final game in their pre-season tour of Asia, on Friday against a Malaysia XI. Benteke’s first game for his new club could be the friendly against HJK Helsinki in Finland a week on Saturday.

Newcastle United’s spending has continued with the sign of £12.5m striker Aleksandar Mitrovic on a five-year deal from Anderlecht.

The 20-year-old arrives subject to receiving the appropriate visa in a deal the club claim is the fourth biggest in their history.

They are also interested in the £8m-rated Congolese full-back Chancel Mbemba.

The Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal, has admitted he wants to sign a striker but “not a striker that the media has written [about]”.

Defensive midfielder Benjamin Stambouli has left Tottenham Hotspur to join Paris Saint-Germain on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The 24-year-old made 12 league appearances after joining Spurs last September from Montpellier.

Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso has rejected an offer to stay with Leicester. The 34-year-old former Internazionale and Real Madrid player joined the Foxes last summer on a one-year deal, which expired last month.