Tottenham Transfer News: Christian Benteke, Fernando Llorente in Liverpool Fight

Tottenham Hotspur are looking likely to have to meet Christian Benteke's £32.5 million release clause if they want to prise the prolific Belgian striker away from Aston Villa.  

The Birmingham outfit are refusing to budge on their asking price for Benteke, not least because they will have to pay Genk 15 per cent of any profit they make above the £7 million they paid the Belgian club for the player in 2012, per Laurie Whitwell of the Daily Mail.

Spurs are going up against Liverpool for the 24-year-old, who netted 13 Premier League goals last season, per WhoScored.com.

The north London outfit are apparently floating the idea of using Emmanuel Adebayor in a player-plus-cash deal for Benteke, with Villa boss Tim Sherwood having used the Togo striker to good effect during his time in charge at White Hart Lane, per Adrian Kajumba of the Daily Mirror.

Indeed, under Sherwood's management, the 31-year-old Adebayor scored 14 goals in 25 games for Tottenham, per Kajumba, and the Villa boss may be open to working with him again. 

However, rivals Liverpool have their own bait prepared in the shape of Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini, per the Independent's Ian Herbert, and they are in desperate need of a new striker at Anfield, per Bleacher Report's Graham Ruthven:

As Ruthven notes, Liverpool could be set for a windfall soon if they successfully offload want-away forward Raheem Sterling, meaning they may eventually have the cash to beat Spurs in the race for Benteke.

In such an event, Tottenham will need to look elsewhere, as they are short on consistent strikers at the moment, with flop Roberto Soldado set to move to Galatasaray, per Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror. 

Juventus' Fernando Llorente is another reported strike target, with Erik Lamela mooted as being included in any deal for the 30-year-old Spaniard, per David Amoyal of GianlucaDiMarzio.com.

However, it would seemingly be ludicrous for the 23-year-old Lamela to be included as part of a deal for Llorente, who netted seven league goals for Juve last season, per WhoScored.

While Lamela has underwhelmed at Spurs thus far, he is a huge talent and deserves patience. Sky Sports News HQ's Lyall Thomas reports that Tottenham, in fact, have no plans to offload the Argentinian:

"

Spurs have no intention of selling Eric Lamela btw and he doesn't want to leave. His attitude is first-class....unlike others... #THFC

— Lyall Thomas (@LyallThomas) June 29, 2015"

There is a lot of dead wood at White Hart Lane, but Lamela should not be included in that. If Llorente can be acquired in a cash deal, he could be an experienced head on which boss Mauricio Pochettino can rely, but Spurs still need more guaranteed goals.

Benteke looks the best option, but that will require meeting his buyout clause, and Tottenham may not be prepared to pay that much.