Liverpool target Fernando Llorente and Carlos Bacca as alternatives to Aston Villa's Christian Benteke

Liverpool have identified Fernando Llorente and Carlos Bacca as alternatives after ending interest in signing Aston Villa star Christian Benteke.

The Belgium international has been in fine form for Tim Sherwood's side in the second half of the season, scoring 12 goals in the last 12 matches. His form has attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur and has a £32.5m ($49.8m) release clause in his contract.

According to the Daily Mail, Benteke's asking price has forced Liverpool to look elsewhere in the market and have now turned their attention to Llorente and Bacca.

Juventus are willing to let the 30-year-old leave the Turin club in the summer transfer window as Llorente is believed to be surplus to requirements, especially after the Champions League finalists are closing in on Mario Mandzukic from Atletico Madrid.

The Merseyside club have a policy of not signing a player who has no resale value. However, last summer they signed Rickie Lambert from Southampton and Brendan Rodgers believes the addition of Llorente will be vital for the development of young players at Anfield.

Bacca has been exceptional for Sevilla after scoring 28 goals. He also helped the La Liga outfit to retain the Europa League after defeating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the final earlier in May.

It is still not clear whether the Reds will make a move for both Llorente and Bacca. They have already signed Danny Ings from Burnley, while Fabio Borini's agent admitted the Italian will leave this summer.

Apart from Ings, Rodgers has the services of Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert at the club. The former Chelsea man struggled with multiple injuries and in his absence, both Balotelli and Lambert failed to impress last season.

Should Liverpool sign Llorente and Bacca, Balotelli and Lambert will struggle to get regular playing time and could be forced to leave the club. On the other hand, one of the two strikers are likely to leave if the Reds manage to secure the services of either the Juventus striker or Sevilla star.

With Liverpool ending their interest in Benteke, it will be a massive boost for Tottenham in landing him in the summer transfer window.