Liverpool and Spurs to tempt Aston Villa with striker swaps?

According to reports, both Liverpool (5/2 with Coral for a top four finish) and Tottenham (5/1) could offer surplus strikers to sweeten any deal with Aston Villa for sought-after sharpshooter Christian Benteke.

Villa have yet to budge on Belgium international Benteke’s rumoured £32.5m release clause, with Brendan Rodgers’ Reds and Spurs believed to be reluctant to fork out such a high fee for the forward.

So, the Premier League big-guns could now change tack by offering their out-of-favour attackers as makeweights, with Villans boss Tim Sherwood currently planning an overhaul of the squad that was demolished by Arsenal in last season’s FA Cup final and escaped Premier League relegation by the skin of their teeth.

Liverpool still have Italy cap Fabio Borini on their books and could attempt to trade the former Chelsea and Sunderland striker in a cash plus player deal for bullish Benteke, despite apparent interest in the marksman from West Ham United.

Borini, still only 24, has shown in flashes that he has a nose for goal, but has found chances hard to come by at Anfield, where he scored just once in 12 league outings last campaign.

The writing appears to be on the wall for the Italian attacker, while clubmate and fellow Reds forward flop Rickie Lambert has similarly found himself starved of opportunity with the Merseyside men, and has also been mooted as bait for a Benteke deal.

As for Tottenham, it is thought Mauricio Pochettino could offload mercurial marksman Emmanuel Adebayor, who the Londoners tried sell back in January, to ex-Spurs boss Sherwood, who has previously proven to be able to inspire his former charge.