The Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, says Raheem Sterling
will not be going anywhere this summer after discussions
over a new contract reached an impasse.
Sterling has been made what Rodgers
described as “an incredible offer”, believed to be £100,000 a week, but
negotiations have stalled. The 20-year-old forward has confirmed he rejected
the deal and wants to assess his situation at the end of the season.
Rodgers said on Thursday: “Concentration should be on his
football. If his ambition is to win trophies that’s aligned with what we do
here. Raheem has two and a half years left on his deal and he’s not going
anywhere in the summer.”
Sterling gave his side of the story in
an interview with the BBC, something Rodgers did not seem impressed by. “There
was no permission [for the interview] from us,” the manager said. “He will
learn we all make mistakes in life, especially when you are young.
“I think the kid has tried to put off
all talk about contract and money. For now hopefully focus will be on football. Liverpool are one of the superpowers of football
and if the owners don’t want to sell they don’t have to.”
Asked in the interview if he would be a
Liverpool player in June, Sterling said: “I will definitely give guarantees at
the end of the season. I’m just focusing on my football. It is my career and I
want the best for me and to reach the goals I had as a kid.”
Sterling added: “I don’t want to be
perceived as a money-grabbing 20-year-old. I want to be seen as a 20-year-old
kid who loves playing football and doing his best for the team.”
Somewhat embarrassingly for Liverpool,
Sterling suggested had the club made the offer at the end of last season he
would have already signed an extension – and probably for less money than is
now being offered.
That has echoes of the situation with
the captain, Steven Gerrard, who
said in January after
announcing his departure to Los Angeles Galaxy that he would have stayed had
his contract offer come in pre-season and not November.
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