City make ?40m final Sterling bid – sources
The ESPN FC crew react to former Liverpool forward Michael Owen’s comments on Raheem Sterling and his situation at the Merseyside club.
Manchester City have made an increased offer of £40 million — £35 million up front with £5 million add-ons — for Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling but will not go any higher, sources have told ESPN FC.
Sterling’s future at Anfield is uncertain after his agent said he would not be signing an extension to his current contract which expires in 2017 and Liverpool rejected a reported bid of £25 million plus £5 million add-ons last week.
Liverpool already rejected an enquiry from rivals Manchester United for the 20-year-old in May and have repeatedly said that they won’t sell the winger, however there is no indication yet that they have turned down City’s latest bid, with the club unwilling to offer more.
The initial bid was immediately rejected out of hand by the Merseysiders and while this one has not been given the same treatment the outcome is likely to be the same.
Liverpool have always maintained their stance on Sterling, who has two years remaining on his contract, but there is no doubt the situation has deteriorated since the youngster turned down a new £100,000-a-week deal in January.
Agent Aidy Ward’s subsequent claim his client would not even sign for “£900,000-a-week” prompted Liverpool to cancel a scheduled meeting to reopen talks in May
But last month manager Brendan Rodgers said he expected Sterling to remain at the club and, at that point, they were still planning talks before the end of the season to try to extend his stay — even after Ward’s comments threw a spanner in the works.
Raheem Sterling has made it clear he wants to depart Anfield.
“Raheem has two years left and I expect him to see that two years through and continue to behave as immaculately as he has done,” said the Reds boss at the time.
Sterling has maintained throughout negotiations that his issue is not about money, stating in an April interview not sanctioned by the club, that he did not want to be viewed as a “money-grabbing 20-year-old.”
Liverpool’s sixth-place finish means they cannot offer him Champions League football next season and a disjointed campaign on the pitch personally has not helped.
The forward enjoyed his best form as a left-sided attacker alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge the season before last in the Merseysiders’ title near-miss but in the last 12 months he has found himself shunted between right wing-back, right wing, a No. 10 and a central striker.
He made 35 Premier League appearances this season, scoring seven goals and assists.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
