Is Raheem Sterling Worth £49 Million?
It has been announced that the long saga involving Raheem Sterling's future at Liverpool has been resolved. The club today has accepted a bid over £49 Million from Manchester City. Apart from the fact that is an astonishingly high sum for a club be playing for a player who is only 20 years old, the real question will be is he worth it? This summer has been filled with the will he/won't he spectulation, but is Manchester City really the club for this guy?
Sterling is unquestionably a talented player and Liverpool losing him will be a big blow. However, I do not feel that he is really worthy of this kind of transfer fee. Many people sneered when Gareth Bale went to Real Madrid for £85 million. Prior to that he had two PFA Player of the Year award's in his corner and had been one of the leagues most talented wingers. A Champions League winners medal later and everyone saw just how valuable he could potentially be. Sterling however is still in the early dawn of a playing career and there is a question of this price going to his head.
Despite being an England regular and making over 95 appearances for one of the most established sides of all time, he has acted in a very unprofessional manner. From as far back as February, rumors of his excessive contract demands broke. Allegedly Sterling was offered over $100,000 a week contract by Liverpool, which he promptly rejected and demanded more. Once making his intentions to leave the club clear, manager Brendan Rodgers was critical of his advisers. Sterling maybe a rising star of the game, but his attitude so far seems to reflect that he believes that he is deserving of treatment in line with Messi or Ronaldo.
His actions subsequent to this decision have been met with widespread disapproval. This week, Sterling apparently asked to be left out of his sides pre-season tour of Asia and he then failed to turn up to training on two different occasions. After this news broke, former teams Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher along with former Reds legend, Graeme Souness slammed his behaviour. When the clubs elite starts calling you out, the bridges have truly been burned. Regardless of any potential moves on the go, Sterling should have at least paid some courtesy to the club that put their faith in him. You can just picture the bad reaction that will come from 'The Kop' upon his return.
Also there is another lingering issue that has surrounded Manchester City over the years- their tendency to harm young English players careers. Just look at what happened to players such as James Milner, when he arrived from Villa he was destined to one of the new cornerstones of English football. Despite winning trophies, he is no longer the pacy and dangerous winger he once was and his approach these days is almost apathetic. Other examples include Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair, both who have yet to recover their big hype. Sterling will no doubt be on a monster contract, but how much more inflated will his ego become because of this?
One other point City will have to contend with is what will happen if this move doesn't work out? This team is known for downing high prices of players because simply, they can. But Sterling is one player they are willing to risk a lot of, but should he fail this will be one expensive failure they may not be able to live down. I understand that is the way the market moves these days and City are a keen buyer who have found an equally keen seller in LFC and Fenway Sports. Is all this trouble worth that amount though?
I can probably expect some angry responses from City fans for this article and far be it for me to offend the fans and city where I spent five glorious years. At this point I don't think Sterling has done enough to earn a move this high and I worry about the potential long term effects on such a young player. Who knows this could work out to be one of the moves of next season and I hope Sterling justifies the faith put in him. If he begins to win trophies though, should City be worried be any future moves he may want to make?
Sterling is unquestionably a talented player and Liverpool losing him will be a big blow. However, I do not feel that he is really worthy of this kind of transfer fee. Many people sneered when Gareth Bale went to Real Madrid for £85 million. Prior to that he had two PFA Player of the Year award's in his corner and had been one of the leagues most talented wingers. A Champions League winners medal later and everyone saw just how valuable he could potentially be. Sterling however is still in the early dawn of a playing career and there is a question of this price going to his head.
Despite being an England regular and making over 95 appearances for one of the most established sides of all time, he has acted in a very unprofessional manner. From as far back as February, rumors of his excessive contract demands broke. Allegedly Sterling was offered over $100,000 a week contract by Liverpool, which he promptly rejected and demanded more. Once making his intentions to leave the club clear, manager Brendan Rodgers was critical of his advisers. Sterling maybe a rising star of the game, but his attitude so far seems to reflect that he believes that he is deserving of treatment in line with Messi or Ronaldo.
His actions subsequent to this decision have been met with widespread disapproval. This week, Sterling apparently asked to be left out of his sides pre-season tour of Asia and he then failed to turn up to training on two different occasions. After this news broke, former teams Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher along with former Reds legend, Graeme Souness slammed his behaviour. When the clubs elite starts calling you out, the bridges have truly been burned. Regardless of any potential moves on the go, Sterling should have at least paid some courtesy to the club that put their faith in him. You can just picture the bad reaction that will come from 'The Kop' upon his return.
Also there is another lingering issue that has surrounded Manchester City over the years- their tendency to harm young English players careers. Just look at what happened to players such as James Milner, when he arrived from Villa he was destined to one of the new cornerstones of English football. Despite winning trophies, he is no longer the pacy and dangerous winger he once was and his approach these days is almost apathetic. Other examples include Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair, both who have yet to recover their big hype. Sterling will no doubt be on a monster contract, but how much more inflated will his ego become because of this?
One other point City will have to contend with is what will happen if this move doesn't work out? This team is known for downing high prices of players because simply, they can. But Sterling is one player they are willing to risk a lot of, but should he fail this will be one expensive failure they may not be able to live down. I understand that is the way the market moves these days and City are a keen buyer who have found an equally keen seller in LFC and Fenway Sports. Is all this trouble worth that amount though?
I can probably expect some angry responses from City fans for this article and far be it for me to offend the fans and city where I spent five glorious years. At this point I don't think Sterling has done enough to earn a move this high and I worry about the potential long term effects on such a young player. Who knows this could work out to be one of the moves of next season and I hope Sterling justifies the faith put in him. If he begins to win trophies though, should City be worried be any future moves he may want to make?
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