Raheem Sterling to Manchester City: 'Sterling should be playing in the Champions League and Liverpool should let him go’ says Jimmy Bullard

EXCLUSIVE COLUMN: It's a shame for Sterling that he hasn't joined City on the pre-season tour because it always helps to meet and get to know your new team-mates

Manchester City bid £40m for Raheem Sterling this week (AFP/Getty)

For me, Liverpool should let Sterling leave for Manchester City. A player of the boy's quality should be playing Champions League football and unfortunately Liverpool can't offer him that at the moment.

For Sterling, it was a shame it couldn’t all get sorted out before the City lot flew out to Australia yesterday. For a new player, a pre-season tour is always a good way to get to know your new team-mate and it’s definitely a good icebreaker to bond with the boys away from the footy side of things. He’s a sharp lad though and I’m sure it won’t take him long to start firing when he gets back training again.

These days players dictate where they want to go a lot more than they used to, which some clubs get the hump about. But when it’s the other way round it goes under the radar a bit. Clubs are always desperate to hold onto their best players when they’re in form, but won’t hesitate to move them on when it’s convenient for them – just look at Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard! I’m sure they would’ve been desperate to stay with their teams, but Liverpool and Chelsea decided the time was right for them to move on.

There’s talk of £60million and I think it’s a good deal for both teams. City will be getting one of the most exciting young talents in the league, while Liverpool can spend the money on trying to replace him, something which they’ve started to do already.

Jimmy Bullard writes a weekly transfer column for The Independent (Carling)

On that note, I’m not massively excited about Liverpool’s signings so far if I’m being honest. If I’m a Liverpool fan, I’d be thinking we need a ready-made star who is going to bang in 20 goals a season for example. Maybe Danny Ings will be that man but he is still young and that is a lot of pressure on the boy.

Roberto Firmino is an exciting prospect, but relatively unknown in this country. James Milner is fairly solid and will certainly improve the team, but will he get you off your seat? I’ve got to say though, Nathaniel Clyne is a great buy – he’s a rapid full back who loves to bomb on and will provide a threat going forward, as well as ensuring they are a bit tighter at the back.

I’m really interested to see how Liverpool do this season – there’s a lot of new players there and they’ll need to gel quickly. Last season there were also a lot of new faces in the squad after they sold Luis Suarez. It was difficult for a lot of them but you are never going to replace a player of Suarez’s quality, no matter how many you sign.

I can't wait to see Adam Lallana this season (Getty Images)

One player I can’t wait to see this season, though, is Adam Lallana. He had a slow start last season but he really got going towards the end and his quality started to shine through. It’s a big season for him and if he can step up the plate, and the other players can take on Brendan’s methods with the way he wants them to play, then Liverpool have a small chance of breaking back into that top four.

Jimmy Bullard has teamed up with Carling as part of their Shirt Amnesty, giving fans the opportunity to exchange their shirt with the name of a recently sold player, with a new one. Follow all of the action @Carling on Twitter.