Liverpool have turned down a £23 million offer from Crystal Palace for out-of-favour striker Christian Benteke.
The Belgian's future at the club has been uncertain for months and Palace were thinking about testing the Reds' resolve with an opening £25 million bid earlier in the summer, but recent reports suggest they failed to officially submit one.
But Alan Pardew's men made an approach earlier this week, their package thought to consist of £23 million up-front with a further £7 million in add-ons.
The offer has been turned down with the view that the additional instalments are too unrealistic, with any extra funds in the future likely centered around Palace's achivements and their hopes of qualifying for European football in the coming seasons.
Liverpool are looking for at least £30 million, or as close to the £32.5 million outlay they paid for Benteke a year ago as possible, with Palace recently having earned £25 million through the sale of Yannick Bolasie to Everton on Monday.
Reds looking for higher up-front fee for Benteke
That would include a higher guaranteed fee as Liverpool look to ensure they only make a small loss on the fee they paid to sign Benteke last summer.
His first and increasingly likely only season on Merseyside saw him net 10 goals in all competitions, but he generally looked out of place under Jürgen Klopp and he started just three Premier League games since the turn of the year.
Palace aren't thought to be the only club interested in the 25-year-old, with West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion also keen, but the Eagles' willingness to meet Benteke's £120,000-a-week wage demands give them the advantage currently.
Benteke's departure from Liverpool is getting to an inevitable stage, the Reds' No.9 having long been deemed surplus to requirements under Klopp - who has Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi, Danny Ings, Roberto Firmino and even Sadio Mane ahead of Benteke in the pecking order up top.
But any move requires Palace to submit a sufficient bid, with Pardew thought to be desperate to add to his ranks with only Connor Wickham and Fraizer Campbell as his current options.
Klopp, earlier this month, insisted that Benteke would not be sold cheaply because the Reds don't give out "presents."
Talks will likely continue in the coming weeks as both clubs try to find a mutual agreement before the end of the transfer window.