Peter Crouch is considering buying out his contract at Liverpool and moving abroad.

The People says Crouch is furious that Kop boss Rafa Benitez has slapped a £15million price tag on his head, despite rarely featuring in his first-team plans.

Now Crouch, 27, is weighing up the option of becoming the first high-profile English player to buy out his own contract - a move which would cost him around £3m.

Under FIFA-adopted EU law, that would mean Crouch becoming a free agent. He would not be able to join another English club, but a foreign club could secure his services for nothing and give him a big wage rise and signing-on fee.

Portsmouth remain front runners to sign Crouch but Aston Villa are also interested along with Spanish club Villarreal.