Alan Pardew has confirmed Christian Benteke will undertake his Crystal Palace medical on Friday, after the club agreed a £27 million deal with Liverpool for the striker, including an additional £5m in extras.
Personal terms still have to be thrashed out with the Belgian, but the Eagles are confident of soon announcing the signing of the explosive forward.
He will become the club’s record signing, dwarfing the £13m shelled out to Newcastle earlier in the window for winger Andros Townsend.
And speaking to a media conference, Palace boss Pardew said: "He'll have his medical today, but personal terms have to be done. We've agreed everything with Liverpool.
"Benteke is someone I know very well as I wanted to take him to Newcastle. It just didn't work out for him at Liverpool."
The agreement, containing add-ons which are likely to be triggered, would see Liverpool recoup the money paid to Aston Villa for the 25-year-old last summer.
Negotiations were finally successful on Thursday after lengthy discussions which dragged on since June.
The Reds refused to alter their valuation of Benteke, wanting a guaranteed £30m at least for the frontman and making it clear he would not be handed out “as a present.”
They rejected an offer worth £23m plus £7m add-ons on Tuesday, due to the extras being wildly unrealistic - with one a three-tiered clause depended on Palace qualifying for the Champions League.
Unsurprisingly, the Selhurst Park side restructured their proposal, and Liverpool will view their decision to hold firm as a triumph given the £32m total they are set to bank.
It is also a welcome move for Benteke, who started just 14 of the 43 fixtures he was selected for under Jurgen Klopp. He did not feature altogether in seven of those, which included the League Cup final defeat by Manchester City at Wembley.
The Belgium international felt, as per an interview while away on international duty in March, "ignored".
And yet, despite being so evidently incompatible with Liverpool under two different managers, Benteke ended 2015-16 with 10 goals; a tally only bettered by Roberto Firmino (11), Philippe Coutinho (12) and Daniel Sturridge (13). Of those, only the England international played less than him.
Pardew is hoping the signing of Benteke “provides a lift” to his squad.
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