Liverpool transfer news: Reds ready to cash in on Raheem Sterling as new contract talks stall
There is a feeling at Liverpool that Sterling now sees his future elsewhere and that he is open to offers
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Your support makes all the difference.Raheem Sterling is increasingly likely to leave Liverpool this summer, with the club’s stance hardening against making the 20-year-old their highest-paid player.
Liverpool and Sterling are at an impasse over a new contract and the England forward has turned down the chance to treble his money and sign a long-term deal worth £100,000 per week. That is likely to be Liverpool’s final offer and they are unwilling to give Sterling what he had been hoping for, which is parity with Daniel Sturridge, who earns close to £150,000 per week.
There is a feeling at Liverpool that Sterling now sees his future elsewhere and that he is open to offers from teams who would be willing to pay him far more than they currently are.
While the Anfield club would, in an ideal world, want to keep him, if no compromise can be reached then they would rather sell him this summer for a serious fee than lose him in 2016, when he has only one year remaining on his current deal.
If Sterling were up for sale this summer, there would certainly be interest from Manchester City and Arsenal in a player who took Liverpool close to the Premier League title last season, winning Liverpool’s young player of the year award in the process.
In December, Sterling was named Europe’s best young player at the “Golden Boy” awards and his continued fine performances for club and country have also caught the attention of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
While Sterling has put his current talks with Liverpool on hold, it emerged this week that even if the club did offer him more than they pay Sturridge, there is no guarantee that he would want to stay at Anfield.
Sterling wants to play regular Champions League football and he is also thought to prefer playing up front – as he did for England against Lithuania on Friday – than at wing-back, where the Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, has been using him recently.
Liverpool are naturally reluctant to lose their best young player, especially given the departure of Luis Suarez last summer and Steven Gerrard at the end of this season, but there is a feeling at Anfield that the emergence this season of Jordon Ibe, who is a year younger than Sterling, would help fill the gap should Sterling leave.
Sterling would certainly not be allowed to leave cheaply and if potential suitors were to offer something close to £50m, Liverpool would be likely to take the money and reinvest it.
In an interview this month, the Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, said that signing Sterling might cost up to £100m, but the youngster’s profile fits what City are looking for as they try to freshen up their ageing squad.
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