Report: Manchester City, Liverpool agree to £49-million deal for Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling gets his transfer. Liverpool gets their money. Manchester City gets their player. Even QPR gets a piece of the lucrative pie. Everybody wins.
City and Liverpool have come to an agreement over the transfer of the 20-year-old, multiple media reports suggest, with the Reds reportedly set to pocket £49 million for the electrifying English attacker.
Raheem Sterling's transfer to Manchester City is agreed. Deal worth £49m (inc. add ons), subject to medical/personal terms. #LFC #MCFC
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesecho) July 12, 2015
Dominic Fifield of the Guardian adds that Sterling - whose relationship with Liverpool soured to the point where it was obviously beyond repair - will undergo a medical Monday before finalising the high-priced move to the Etihad.
Fifield elaborates:
... while Liverpool had expressed a desire to retain the England international, there was an acceptance that Sterling's relationship with the hierarchy had deteriorated markedly over the course of last season once talks over a new contract at Anfield, which were initiated last October, quickly ran aground. The player subsequently rejected a proposed deal worth £100,000-a-week in March and has appeared destined to leave ever since after five years, 129 appearances and 23 goals for the club.
The English international is expected, according to that same report, to earn roughly £200,000 a week.
Sterling was under contract until 2017 with Liverpool. He burst onto the scene in 2013-14, helping the club make an unlikely title push by scoring nine goals, adding five assists, and establishing himself as one of the most exciting attacking talents in Europe. Though his scoring numbers dipped this past year - not surprising given the departure of Luis Suarez, injuries to Daniel Sturridge, the ineptitude of the club's other forwards, and manager Brendan Rodgers' insistence on using him in more withdrawn roles - Sterling was still a frightening attacking weapon.
(Courtesy: Ted Knutson)
The reported deal comes after Liverpool were said to have rejected two bids from their Premier League peers earlier in the summer, with offers of £35 million and £40 million reportedly turned away.
While some may scoff at the idea of paying £49 million for Sterling - £8 million of which will go to QPR as part of a clause agreed to when he moved to Liverpool - the fact of the matter is City have more than the necessary funds, needed an influx of young talent, and needed said talent to be English in order to help meet homegrown player requirements.
Check, check, and check.
Sterling will be added to an attacking core that already features Sergio Aguero and midfield wizard David Silva, and instantly resigns the likes of Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri to the bench, giving Manuel Pellegrini one of the Premier League's most fearsome collections of talent.