Liverpool legend John Barnes believes the club will have to alter their playing style in order to accommodate Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke.


The Belgium international has been very strongly linked with the Reds and many reports claim that the club is ready to pay the £32.5million buyout clause for the player.

However, if the Merseyside club are to lure Benteke to Anfield, Brendan Rodgers may have to tinker his game plan to fit the powerful forward into his line-up according to Barnes.

"Liverpool have to adapt the way they play to suit Christian Benteke," Barnes told talkSPORT.

"When they play with Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho, they pass the ball through midfield and always want to score the perfect goal.

"With Benteke, you get the ball wide and then in the box, you need to be a little bit more direct

"If he comes it will need a sweeping change in the way Liverpool play," Barnes added. "Would that be a bad thing? Not necessarily, balance is important.

"At times Liverpool overplayed which really came off two years ago but didn't last season. He would cause people a lot of problems."