The story that has dominated the English football headlines over the last week is Liverpool F.C's dilemma over the future of their young English talent, Raheem Sterling. Having joined the club from Q.P.R in 2012 for the small sum of £600k, the talented youngster from London has arguably become one of the best prospects in the Premier league, and it it obvious why Liverpool will want to keep him. The question we must ask ourselves is if Liverpool do not renew his contract, do they then go on to sell another prized asset? In previous years Liverpool have parted with world class talent such as; Luis Suarez, Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina. Would the sale of another crucial member of the squad take them back another step? After all they also have to face the realization of losing arguably their greatest every player in the summer, Steven Gerard.
As many others have recently noted, his reported wage demands seem obscene. However I don't think the fact that Raheem Sterling has turned down the 100k a week contract that is the critical problem here. I think the problem lies at the fact that he was offered this huge wage by the club. It is far too much to pay a twenty year old, or any footballer in fact, but that is a different issue entirely. It is clear to see that Raheem Sterling has been 'Tapped Up' by another football super-club in Europe. The way he mentions the fact he would like to play abroad in the interview he did with the BBC, and by participating in this interview, he has somewhat issued a "come and get me" plea to all the clubs in Europe who have been strongly linked with acquiring his signature (Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona).
What appears strange to me is to consider; do these clubs who are linked with Raheem Sterling actually need him in their squads? Looking at Arsenal's squad it is evident that they already have wingers in abundance, for example Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and play-makers such as Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey. Therefore I believe Arsenal would be foolish to attempt to Sign Raheem Sterling as they already have six very good players for his position! The same situation is apparent at the other clubs who are interested in the English play-maker, Real Madrid and Barcelona are fully covered in his position on the field. Is Raheem Sterling likely to get onto the above sides with players such as; Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi, and Neymar? Not a chance; Sterling is a very good player but he is still far from reaching the same level of talent as the aforementioned players.
Sterling may have turned down the huge contract offer because he genuinely feels that he will have better prospects of success at alternative sides in Europe; Liverpool this season and in previous seasons have been reasonably poor at chasing silverware. Sterling spoke about his wish to win trophies, as is the case for every professional footballer and he may indeed, without the motivation of money, want a transfer to a bigger club with more potential of gaining silverware. On the flip side I can see comparisons between this saga and the one of Wayne Rooney and Manchester United in 2012. In this case Wayne Rooney publicly stated he would not be signing a new contract and wanted to move elsewhere. As we know in the end Rooney stayed at Manchester United, but was given a contract of up to £300k a week. Is Raheem Sterling playing Liverpool into giving him even more than £100k a week? I believe so, and I feel that ig Liverpool have ambitions of winning trophies, which they should, they need to keep their best players and show ambition in the transfer market and also show a level of financial power. Yesterday Jose Mourinho said that "every player has his price", and this is key in this saga as I feel that Liverpool are going to have to pay the price, all be it a huge one to secure Sterling's services for the future. If they fail to keep Raheem Sterling I think the fans of Liverpool will show their frustration, as they will be a long way off fighting for titles and silverware if they are unable to keep the best players which they have at their disposal.
Ryan Crow
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