Where will Raheem Sterling be playing his football next season?
Liverpool forward Sterling is being linked with a summer transfer away from Liverpool – and Sky Bet make the England man a 2/1 shot to be at the club on September 3.
Sterling is set to resume contract talks with Liverpool later this week but intends to tell them he does not plan to sign a new deal, according to Sky Sources.
Here, we take a look at how the betting markets are taking shape on the subject of Sterling’s next club.
Manchester City - 5/6 with Sky Bet to sign for before 3rd September 2015
With FA chairman Greg Dyke wanting to introduce tougher rules to improve opportunities for home-grown players, Manchester City are reportedly looking to strengthen their squad this summer with players that would tick that requirement.
A big rebuilding job is on the cards at City.
When they were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona, the average age of their squad was 29.7 and the futures of some of the more experienced heads like Yaya Toure and James Milner are in doubt.
They need to freshen up the squad and bringing in a player who Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers called “the best young player in Europe” would make perfect sense, especially with the financial clout they possess.
A move back to London reportedly is a big factor in Sterling’s desire to leave Liverpool and he would fit seamlessly into Arsenal’s free-flowing style of attacking football.
However, with the abundance of attacking talent at the disposal of Arsene Wenger it would be hard to guarantee the Liverpool man a regular first-team spot unless they free up space in the squad. Paul Merson has mooted that an exchange plus cash deal for Sterling with Theo Walcott going the other way would be the “deal of the century for Liverpool.”
Wenger has refused to be drawn on speculation that the club are interested in signing him but is a keen admirer of his talents.
Wenger said: "Raheem Sterling is a top player, everybody in the country knows that now. He is a very important player for Liverpool of course.”
Jose Mourinho is a master at maintaining his squad and if he feels a player is available that would move his team forward, he isn’t afraid to make swift changes in his squad. One of the areas they are lacking is pace in forward areas.
At the exception of Eden Hazard and Willian, the Chelsea midfield do struggle to stretch a game by getting in behind defences and the addition of the lightning quick Sterling would add another dimension to their already ruthless attacking artillery.
Manchester United – 10/1 with Sky Bet
Big things are expected once again this transfer window from Louis van Gaal as he has a reported purse of £150m to spend. He’s already got to work in bringing in some exciting young talent by snapping up the services of Memphis Depay from PSV for a fee believed to be in the region of £25m.
However, odds of 10/1 probably underrepresent the likelihood of Liverpool shipping Sterling out to one of their fiercest rivals. Phill Chisnall was transferred from Manchester United to Liverpool in 1964 but since then, not a single player has been directly transferred from one club to the other.
The Bundesliga champions were linked with Sterling back in December and they have since lost flying wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery to injuries, which contributed to their Champions League semi-final exit.
Pep Guardiola's reputation, particularly the way he coached Lionel Messi at Barcelona, would be a huge attraction but Sterling’s drop in form over the last six months may put Bayern off paying a huge transfer fee.
Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson is certainly of the opinion that Sterling’s performances haven’t merited a big-money move.
According to the Spanish media, Real are plotting a new ‘Galactico project’ which could include the signing of three high-profile players this summer and Sterling would like to think he’d be on their radar. The Madrid club are not immune to putting their faith in youth as shown by their signing of 16-year-old Martin Odegaard in January.
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