It seems almost certain that Raheem Sterling will be departing Anfield this summer with a parting message to ‘shut the door on his way out’.
Reports on Monday evening claimed Sterling told Brendan Rodgers prior to the Chelsea game on May 10th that he wants to leave the club with his agent, Aidy Ward, due to sit down with chief executive Ian Ayre on Friday to discuss the next step.
Manchester City are said to be leading the race to sign the winger and if Manuel Pellegrini has any say in the matter at all Liverpool could be getting their hands on a serious amount of cash for a player they signed as a 15-year-old from QPR.
City need English players to meet the Premier League’s quota system and, in an interview with the Guardian in March, Pellegrini spoke of the difficulties of trying to sign English players.
In the middle of Pellegrini’s complaints there’s a little nugget of information that may be of interested to Liverpool if and when negotiations start.
“It’s important to have English players. Can you sign them? To improve this squad, you’re talking players you can’t get. Let’s say [Luke] Shaw. £35m on a left‑back because he’s English? Can you get [Raheem] Sterling from Liverpool? Maybe if you go with £100m. [Gary] Cahill? Or [Frank] Lampard a few years ago? And if I want an Englishman in [David] Silva’s position, who is there?” There’s a long pause. “[Wayne] Rooney? Either they don’t exist or clubs won’t sell.”
With Financial Fair Play rules set to be relaxed this summer, City’s spending may not be under the same constraints as the past couple of years.
Over to you, Ian Ayre…
