Goal.com

Aug 31, 2012 11:00:00 AM

The Reds are lining up a new bid for the American, with Aston Villa also believed to have had a bid accepted, while a trio of senior stars are close to joining Martin Jol's side

Liverpool are expected to make a counter-offer to Fulham for Clint Dempsey following interest elsewhere in the United States international.

Aston Villa made a formal offer on Thursday night for Dempsey, who is valued at €9 million by the London club.

Fulham are believed to have accepted the bid, but sources have said that Dempsey is reluctant to move to Villa Park and is still holding out for a deadline day switch to Anfield.

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Goal.com revealed on Thursday that the Merseysiders were back in negotiations with Fulham to sign Dempsey, with discussions centring on the players who could move to Craven Cottage in part-exchange.

Liverpool are reluctant to meet Fulham’s asking price for the 29-year-old and several senior and junior players have been mentioned as makeweights in the deal in order to meet the valuation.

This news comes as Goal.com can also reveal that three senior players have undergone medicals at Fulham in the last 24 hours.

These are believed to be Dimitar Berbatov, Kieran Richardson and an unidentified third potential first-teamer.

Berbatov is close to completing a €5.7m move from Manchester United despite mischievous comments from Sir Alex Ferguson on Friday morning that he did not think it was certain the Bulgarian would join Fulham and “it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s at Tottenham”.

Richardson will move from Sunderland for €2.5m, while the third player is likely to fill the central midfield gap left vacant following the departures this summer of Mousa Dembele and Danny Murphy.

Meanwhile, Lauri Dalla Valle, the Finnish striker who joined from Liverpool in 2010, can be revealed to be heading to Charleroi in Belgium on a season-long loan.

Fulham are desperate to offload Dempsey as Jol and senior Fulham figures accept that there is no way back for the attacker at the club.

The 29-year-old has made it clear that his preference is to quit Craven Cottage for Liverpool, whose manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he has made enquiries about signing the player.

As revealed by Goal.com earlier this month, Dempsey has been training on his own after making it clear he does not want to play for the Londoners again while waiting for a move to Liverpool to materialise.

The American has been left in limbo while his future remains up in the air but he has been reluctant to consider alternative offers, with Sunderland and Everton also showing interest.

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