Why Sterling move benfits all parties.
With reports in today’s Daily Mail that Liverpool finally look set to accept an offer to sell Raheem Sterling to Manchester City, here’s a look at five reasons the move should prove the best outcome for both teams, the player himself, and for England.
1) Man City get a great player
Manchester City, if they do sign Sterling, will be landing one of the top young talents in the country and perhaps the world. Still only 20 years old, the versatile attacker has been a key player for Liverpool in the last two seasons, showing the combination of blistering pace, skill, intelligence on the ball, creativity and an eye for goal that is matched by few in his age group. With the potential to keep on improving, there’s no doubt Sterling can become a huge player at the Etihad Stadium for years to come, and he will address their immediate issues as well with other attacking players like Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas underperforming in recent times.
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2) Liverpool get a good price
If the Mail’s reported fee of £45m is correct, then Liverpool will be selling a relatively unproven player for a hugely inflated fee, which has to go down as good business for them. English players are known to cost more than they should a lot of the time, and this is no different. While City will be pleased to fork out for that kind of potential, Liverpool should be happy to have conducted some good business by refusing to let the player leave on the cheap. This money could now help fund some good moves for the club, such as a rumoured bid for Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, who has a £32.5m release clause (via the Daily Mail) which now looks more affordable.
3) Liverpool get rid of a troublesome presence
As well as getting a good fee for Sterling, Liverpool also get rid of the distraction over his future in their pre-season preparations. Liverpool need to ensure there is full focus on improving on last season and getting back into the top four, and that is clearly harder to do with an unhappy player around, with reports this week that the 20-year-old did not want to go with the rest of the squad on pre-season, having reported sick for training, according to the Guardian.
4) Sterling gets more chance of success
This move will surely be a good one for Sterling as well, with the youngster perhaps looking at the career of loyal club legend Steven Gerrard and thinking that staying at Anfield might not be the bets decision in terms of winning trophies. The former England captain left the club for LA Galaxy this summer, but notably nearly joined Chelsea earlier in his career (via BBC Sport) in a move which surely would have seen him lift more silverware. By joining City, Sterling is moving to a team that has won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup in the last five seasons, while the Reds have been empty handed since winning the League Cup in 2012.
5) England should get a better player
Playing with better players is only ever a good thing, and Sterling should improve dramatically by joining big names like Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure at the Etihad Stadium. Of course, Liverpool are not short of quality players either, but there is a noticeable gap between the two teams these days and Sterling’s development should be aided by the move, as well as by the bigger challenge of playing in the Champions League, which he only achieved briefly with Liverpool last season as they got knocked out at the group stages. For the England national team, Sterling moving to a bigger club should be seen as a promising sign for their hopes of success in the future.