Transfer balls: Raheem Sterling thinks Manchester United and Arsenal are better than Liverpool
Can it be that Raheem Sterling, the Liverpool tyro, would leave the club to play for Arsenal or Manchester United? The Sun says the deal to Old Trafford is on.
The last player to move between the two clubs was Phil Chisnall, who left Manchester United for Liverpool in 1964.
Sterling has rejected a near £100,000-a-week deal to remain at Liverpool. He and his agent are agitating for an exit. Liverpool want him to stay.
Their mistake was securing him on a £35,000-a-week deal that ends in two years time. They should have offered him more when he signed that deal just after his 18th birthday. They should have seen the improving player and recalculated his worth. Now that Liverpool are ready to negotiate, Sterling has raised his sights.
Sterling thinks Liverpool owe him back pay.
And Liverpool’s rivals are ready to exploit his position.
Sterling, of course, runs the risk of looking like a greedy, ungrateful, disloyal tosser.
But fans of one other club linked to him know how that goes. Arsenal have seen Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Ashley Cole leave the club for far better-paid jobs. Money talks.
Take ‘Cashley’ Cole, who left Arsenal for Chelsea. The Gunners had offered Cole £55,000-a-week. His reaction is infamous, as noted in his autobiography:
When I heard Jonathan Barnett [player’s agent] repeat the figure of £55K, I nearly swerved off the road. He (former Arsenal Director David Dein] is taking the piss Jonathan! I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.
Cole recovered to earn lots of more money and win medals at Chelsea.
Did he have regrets about burning his bridge to the club that had nurtured him? No. Not one.
And there was Nasri, who said in 2011:
“We already earn huge wages. The priority is to win titles. I am hungry for titles. I play football becasue I love this sport and want to feel the emotion of winning.”
Not long after, Nasri signed for Manchester City.
He earned a lot more money and won more titles.
And there was Van Persie, who said:
“Fiannacial terms or a contract hve bnot been discussed, sicne that has not been mny priority at all.”
He left for Mancheter United. He earned a lot more money and won more titles.
Like Cole, Nasri and Van Persie, Sterling wants more.
And he’ll get it. But can he get it at Liverpool any more than he can at Manchester United or Arsenal?
Posted: 4th, April 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
