Liverpool Transfer News: Latest Christian Benteke, Rickie Lambert Rumours

Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke is reportedly set to undergo a medical with Liverpool following the Reds' decision to meet the Belgian's £32.5 million release clause.

Sky Sports reported on Thursday that long-rumoured Liverpool target Benteke was finally set for a move to Anfield:

With the 24-year-old's release clause having been met, Benteke's departure from Villa is seemingly imminent. 

BBC Sport's Ben Smith reports that Benteke is set to undergo his medical on Merseyside, while also clearing up recent speculation concerning Manchester United's supposed interest in the Belgium international:

According to James Nursey in the Mirror, Benteke has played his last game for Villa, as he is set to miss the Birmingham outfit's friendly against Sporting Braga in Albufeira on Friday.

Liverpool have been in need of a new striker since Luis Suarez departed for Barcelona last summer.

With Daniel Sturridge injured for much of the 2014-15 season, the Reds relied on Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert, but the trio scored just four goals between them in the 2014-15 Premier League season, per WhoScored.com.

Benteke should bring added firepower to the Liverpool front line, and despite his inflated price tag, WhoScored (h/t ESPN FC) see him as a risk worth taking.

The Reds need a proven Premier League goalscorer, and no player was more prolific than Benteke in the second half of last season, per WhoScored:

Benteke should bring an added element to the Reds' attack, his height and power offering them something different from their regular forward men.

Benteke will join Danny Ings as Liverpool's second striker addition in a successful summer transfer window thus far, per Bleacher Report's Jonathan Johnson:

Inevitably‚ and correctly, Liverpool's strike unit is undergoing a major overhaul this summer.  

The latest rumours suggest that Lambert, following his 2014 move to Anfield, is on his way out of Liverpool.

Per the Mirror's John Cross, West Bromwich Albion are set to make a move for the 33-year-old England international, who started only seven league games last season following the move to his boyhood club, per WhoScored. 

Cross suggested a decision will be made on Lambert's future following the club's pre-season tour, but the former Southampton man is surely not going to stay at Anfield.

His move to Liverpool was swathed in optimism, but he is simply not good enough for a team aiming for a title challenge, and in Benteke and Ings, the Reds have found themselves a much-improved forward unit.