Liverpool agree £27m fee with Crystal Palace for out-of-favour striker Christian Benteke

Crystal Palace have reportedly agreed an initial fee of £27m ($35.5m) with Liverpool for striker Christian Benteke. The out-of-favour Belgian has been persistently linked with a move to Selhurst Park in recent weeks and the London club had already had two bids rejected.

Benteke joined Liverpool for £32.5m from Aston Villa in July 2015, but failed to match fans' expectations and quickly became a peripheral figure at Anfield. However, after slipping down the pecking order under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Benteke is set to become the most expensive player in Palace's history, with the fee potentially rising above £30m with add-ons.

Benteke is currently on his way to Palace to finalise his much-discussed transfer, according to the BBC. The agreement comes less than 24 hours after Liverpool rejected a bid for the striker worth £23m up front, plus £7m add-ons.

Liverpool were reportedly unconvinced the South London club would attain the targets needed to trigger the add-on fees. For instance, £2.5m of the fee was dependent on Palace qualifying for the Champions League with Benteke scoring 20 goals and playing in 70 per cent of the fixtures of such a top-four campaign, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Liverpool were instead said to be keen to get much more of the money upfront before agreeing to the transfer. However, the Anfield club now appear to be satisfied with the structure of the deal and Benteke appears to have played his last game for Liverpool.