Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is ready to spend big on Wigan Athletic midfielder Lee Cattermole.

The Daily Mail says Benitez is ready to tempt Wigan with an offer of £12m for Cattermole, who cost just £3.5m from Middlesbrough a year ago.

Wigan insist they do not want to sell the combative midfielder and have so far resisted attempts by their former manager Steve Bruce to take him to Sunderland.

Although Bruce would also be prepared to go as high as £12m, he knows that Sunderland cannot match Liverpool's pulling power or offer Cattermole a chance to play on European football's biggest stage.

Cattermole impressed during his first season at Wigan and for England at this summer's European Under 21 Championships in Sweden, but was resigned to staying for another year before looking for a move to a bigger team.

If Wigan could be persuaded to sell, he would jump at the chance of joining a Champions League club like Liverpool where he can press his claims for a senior England call-up with the World Cup less than a year away.