Manchester United could tie up a deal for Aston Villa attacker Christian Benteke by the weekend, according to reports.
The 24-year-old Belgian international sparked a frenzy on Wednesday after the London Evening Standard reported the player favourited a tweet suggesting he should move to United and become a backup to Wayne Rooney.
Now The Sun says United could smash Liverpool’s hopes of signing the player by matching the striker’s £32.5m release clause.
Benteke reportedly moved quickly to delete the tweet from his account, but his capture would come as yet another high-profile boost to Van Gaal’s squad.
The signing of Benteke would bring United’s summer shopping spree up to £109m following the additions of Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin.
Benteke has proved himself to be one of the Premier League’s most lethal marksman since joining Villa from Belgian side Genk in 2012, scoring 42 goals in 88 league matches for the club.
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