Newly-crowned English Premier League champions Leicester City FC is targeting Liverpool striker Christian Benteke as the team's first major signing in the upcoming summer transfer window, according to recent reports.

Metro indicated that the 25-year-old Belgian forward will be right in the middle of the crosshairs of Leicester's senior club officials as the Foxes' current strikers Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are expected to attract a lot of interest this summer, which will make the team "need a big-name replacement up front".

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Vardy is the third-best scorer this season with 22 goals so far, behind the Spurs' Harry Kane who has 25 goals and Man City's Sergio Agüero with 23 goals. Mahrez is fifth-best with 17 goals, but has a league-best 11 assists under his name during this term.

Benteke is not as prolific as the names mentioned above and is actually considered a flop signing by former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers last summer. This season, the 6-foot-3 Kinshasa, Zaire native had only scored eight goals in 26 appearances in the domestic top flight.

Despite that, the Foxes are said to be hoping that Benteke could again find his old form during his time at Aston Villa from 2012-2013 to 2014-2015, where he scored 42 goals in 89 games in three seasons with the Villans, if they indeed sign him this summer.

Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that it is highly likely the Reds will sell Benteke at the end of the season "after a disappointing first year at Anfield".

The report said that this scenario is "increasingly likely" to take place because of the "team's aggressive pursuit of other strikers and his (Benteke's) frequency on the bench under manager Jürgen Klopp.

Benteke is not the most favorite striker of Klopp in his lineup and was sparingly used by the German bench tactician since he arrived at the Merseyside in October of last year.

Klopp had been vocal about his plan of making a huge rebuild in Liverpool's roster this summer and it was speculated that Benteke is one of those players who are going to be sold.

Tags Football Transfer Rumors, Football Transfer Rumors 2016, Leicester City, Christian Benteke, liverpool, Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez