Liverpool: Christian Benteke set for Anfield exit after just one season

Crystal Palace is Belgian forward's most likely destination, according to reports.

Liverpool forward Christian Benteke is set to leave the club in the summer after just one season, with Crystal Palace his most likely destination, according to reports.

Benteke, 25, scored only nine goals in 29 league appearances for the Reds last season, as he struggled to establish himself in the first team under Jurgen Klopp.

The Daily Mirror reports that the Belgian striker is open to joining Palace because his first-team prospects at Anfield have further dimmed due to the arrival of Sadio Mane from Southampton.

Palace boss Alan Pardew is reportedly an admirer of Benteke and believes the 25-year-old can solve his side's goal scoring problems.

Klopp wants to sell Benteke as he does not suit the style of football the German coach wants to implement at Anfield, but suitors have been put off by Liverpool's £30m ($40m) asking price.

Palace can offer Benteke most of the £140,000 per week salary he earns at Liverpool, the Mirror says.

Klopp criticism

Benteke, whose contract with Liverpool runs until 2020, publicly criticised Klopp for "ignoring" him in March, and disputed the view that he did not fit the German's footballing philosophy.

"I find it bizarre, I do not understand why people say that. I can play pressing and moving a lot. It is not that we play in the Barcelona style," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Christian Benteke endured a frustrating debut season at Liverpool after arriving from Aston Villa last summer Getty

"I played two full matches in a row since Klopp [arrived]. I went up against Leicester, I scored, I followed up with a game and a goal to Sunderland, and then we lost to West Ham and since then I have been discarded.

"Even my father was annoyed at first by my status as a reservist and told me that I can do nothing.

"I spoke with Eden [Hazard] and with Marouane [Fellaini], they all gave me the same answer – when a coach does not count on you, you cannot change anything. I never would have signed if I had not been the priority of the coach."

Benteke is part of the Belgium squad preparing to face Wales in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 in Lille.