Liverpool are prepared to take a hard-line stance with disgruntled Raheem Sterling.
The player’s future looks far from certain, after he chose to delay any resumption of contract talks until the summer, and gave an unsanctioned interview this week where he talked said trophies, and not money, would be the key factor in his ultimate decision.
With just over two years remaining on his £35,000 per week deal, it appears Sterling has the advantage over Liverpool in any contract talks, but the club are prepared to employ similar tactics as they did when Luis Suarez sought a move in 2013.
According to Chris Bascombe, the north-east football reporter for The Daily Telegraph, the club will price Sterling out of leaving this summer, placing a £50 million transfer fee on the player.
Senior figures at the club believe no club would be prepared to pay such a fee for the 20 year old, particularly when wages are also factored in. A £50 million transfer fee, combined with a five year, £200,000 per week wages, would cost almost £100 million for any interested club.
Liverpool believe the player’s agent Aidy Ward has misjudged the situation, and that even if a club had the resources, or the will, to pay such a overall fee, such as Manchester City, Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations dictates careful allocation of financial resources.
The club employed a similarly hard-line stance with former striker Suarez in 2013, refusing a £40 million offer from Arsenal, despite the player publicly stating he wanted to leave.
Suarez was banished to the reserves for deploying a poor attitude, recalled, had his best season for the club and was sold the following year to Barcelona for £75 million.
Liverpool believe Sterling has some way to go before reaching the levels Suarez hit during his time at Anfield and are adamant he will not be sold this summer.
At his press conference yesterday, Brendan Rodgers said: ‘I cannot speak for the owners, but I have a good idea of what they would do. I know them well enough from my time here and for me it [a sale] would not happen. I do not see it. No. Raheem has 2½ years left on his deal and he’s not going anywhere in the summer’.
‘Liverpool are one of the superpowers of football and if the owners don’t want to sell they don’t have to. The concentration should be on his football. If his ambition is to win trophies, that’s aligned with what we want here’.
