Liverpool accept Ryan Babel bid from Hoffenheim

Liverpool have accepted a bid from Bundesliga club Hoffenheim for their Dutch forward Ryan Babel and the 24-year-old has travelled to Germany to discuss personal terms, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

Babel joined Liverpool for around £10 million ($16 million) from Ajax Amsterdam in 2007 weeks after helping the Netherlands win the Under-21 European championship with his pace and direct running.   

However, despite showing occasional flashes of his ability he has been unable to establish a place in the Liverpool first team and was fined by the club a year ago for posting on Twitter his frustration at not being selected.  

He fell foul of Twitter again when he was fined 10,000 pounds on Monday after posting a doctored picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt following his club's FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford.

Babel has started only one Premier League game this season but Hoffenheim identified him as the ideal man to solve their striking problem.                      

"We were in a difficult situation with (Demba) Ba out of the picture and Chinedu Obasi injured," Hoffenheim's main investor Dietmar Hopp told Bild newspaper. "Babel was one of the players on our wish list."   

Senegalese Ba has been banned from training and will not play for the club again following his demand to leave during the transfer window.