Liverpool chase Benteke as two defenders sign new contracts

• Club plan bid for Aston Villa striker after FA Cup final
• Kolo Touré accepts new one-year deal at Anfield
• Andrew Wisdom commits his future to club until 2019
• Brendan Rodgers backed by FSG to walk through Liverpool storm

Christian Benteke has scored 15 goals for Aston Villa this season.

Liverpool are preparing to bid for Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke after the FA Cup final on Saturday while their the defenders Kolo Touré and Andre Wisdom have signed contract extensions despite their peripheral roles under Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool have targeted Benteke as the man they believe can score the goals to take them back to the top four, with Rodgers having lost faith in Daniel Sturridge’s ability to stay fit for an entire campaign. The manager said in April the club was on the hunt for proven goalscorers and Benteke appears to be the one he has landed upon. “It’s simple, we need more of a scoring threat,” Rodgers said. “We missed it immensely this year and obviously that has affected results. I think what the players have done to arrive where we have is credit to them without that. So in the summer we have to try and find goals again. We looked last summer and certainly will again this summer. If we do that we have an opportunity again for next season to be like our second year.”

The Belgian striker is preparing for the FA Cup final against Arsenal, with the Anfield hierarchy recognising that Aston Villa will not countenance transfer talks in the build-up to that game. Benteke has scored 15 goals in 32 appearances this season as he recaptured the form of his debut Premier League year in 2012-13.

Touré, the former Ivory Coast international, would have been out of contract this summer and had received offers from several European clubs but has agreed a new 12-month deal. Wisdom, who spent the last Premier League campaign on loan at West Bromwich Albion, has committed his future to Anfield until 2019. The contract awarded to Wisdom underlines Rodgers’ view that he does have a long-term future with Liverpool despite sending him out on loan to gain more Premier League experience last season. Wisdom made a decent start at Albion under the former manager Alan Irvine but lost his regular place under Tony Pulis and made only two substitute appearances after 31 January.

Despite pressure on his position as manager, with a review expected to be held next month into Liverpool’s poor season that culminated in Sunday’s 6-1 humiliation at Stoke City, Rodgers intends to give homegrown talent a more prominent role next term and Wisdom features in that plan. Touré, who arrived at Anfield on a free transfer from Manchester City in 2013, made only only 21 appearances for Liverpool last season but his experience is viewed as important to an unsettled defence. to an unsettled defence. “Liverpool is a great club for me to stay at,” he said. “Liverpool is going to be massive. I love Premier League football and I played all my years here. If I can finish here it would be great.”

Jordon Ibe has been forced to withdraw from the England Under-20 squad for this summer’s Toulon Tournament because of a recurring knee injury. The 19-year-old, who signed a new five-year contract with Liverpool last week and was one of the few positives to emerge from a disappointing season for Rodgers. Ibe has struggled with his knee since the Europa League exit to Besiktas in February.