It appears the relationship between Raheem Sterling and Liverpool is broken for good, following reports that the winger has refused to go on the club’s pre-season tour.
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Various media outlets, including Independent Sport, broke the news late on Tuesday night that the England international informed manager Brendan Rodgers of his desire to leave Anfield this summer and to not be considered for the club’s imminent tour of South East Asia and Australia.
Sterling’s future on Merseyside has been the subject of much speculation ever since his controversial interview with BBC Sport towards the end of last season, where he wished to place contract talks on hold after rejecting a new £100k-a-week offer.
His agent Aidy Ward then told Standard Sport in May that the player would not be signing a new contract at the club and Manchester City have already seen two offers rejected this summer [via BBC Sport].
City are expected to return with a third and final offer in the near future [via Telegraph Sport] and judging by the reaction of a selection of Liverpool supporters on Twitter, they will happy to see the back of the 20-year-old:
so Sterling doesn’t want to be part of the pre season tour, @LFC can you guys sell him already?
— Mr. Absolutely (@ibrraheem_) July 8, 2015
Raheem Sterling’s new squad photo. pic.twitter.com/mjbWaNsRV8
— Kop 305 (@Kop305) July 7, 2015
Not arsed about Sterling not wanting to go on tour, he left the club mentally along time ago. Sell to the highest bidder.
— Karltinho (@Karlton81) July 7, 2015
Amazing how Raheem got a nice cozy break to Jamaica last year whilst the #LFC team got on with it. Incredible how quickly minds can change.
— C90 (@Champions1990) July 8, 2015
I genuinely think he expected a handful of the worlds best clubs to be fighting for his signature. Guess what Raheem… It’s not happening.
— Mitchell Scarvaci (@MitchScarvaci) July 8, 2015
Raheem Sterling represents everything wrong with modern football. Hugely talented but got an awful attitude and ultimately all about money.
— Anfield Chat (@TheAnfieldChat) July 7, 2015