Speculation that Liverpool might make a move to sign Raheem Sterling from Manchester City despite his controversial exit from the club has been fuelled.
When the winger left Liverpool for Man City in 2015, he was branded a snake by Reds fans and while football fans can be very fickle, I think most fans would prefer not to see him return to the club.
I covered a story on 11th June which seemingly boosted Liverpool’s chances of re-signing Sterling after he sacked Aidy Ward – the same agent that helped him force an exit from Anfield.
Journalist Alex Miller claimed: “Chances of a Raheem Sterling to Liverpool more likely after he ditched his agent, according to a well-placed source. Major obstacle removed.
“Would still need the price to be right and for Jurgen Klopp to be convinced about player’s commitment.”
City signed Sterling for £49million but Transfermarkt’s valuation of the Englishman suggests they would demand closer to £81million and given that the Reds are their direct rivals, they might even add a premium on top of that.
I have no doubt that Klopp would be able to get the best out of Sterling and it would be interesting to see how his ability to stretch the game would help the Reds given the range of passing the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have from the back.
It would give Liverpool a different element to their style of play as Sadio Mane doesn’t often make runs behind the opposition but Sterling’s pace and desire to run in behind would be dangerous I believe.
The Liverpool Echo reports that Sterling was “left beaming at the exchange” with Klopp after the game, with Klopp hugging the 26-year-old, who started on the bench for the Citizens.
As much as we Liverpool fans like to trash talk Sterling for the way he left the club, there is no denying that he is a top forward and while his form has dipped over the last year, his 25 goals and 18 assists in 2018/19 and his 31 goals and 10 assists in 2019/20 prove that he can perform at an elite level.
All that said, I would be very surprised if Liverpool signed Sterling based on his history with the Reds and the fact that City wouldn’t likely want to sell to the Anfield outfit.
