Sterling has rejected Liverpool’s contract extension offer…
Prominent football pundit Andy Gray, formerly of the Bitters, reckons Liverpool need to get Kenny Dalglish in to speak to Raheem Sterling and iron out this messy contract dispute…
Gray told talkSPORT that if Sterling can’t be persuaded to stay by arguably our greatest ever player, then he perhaps shouldn’t be at the club anyway, and we’re probably inclined to agree with him.
“If this was Sir Alex Ferguson in his pomp at Manchester United and he was struggling with a player like that, he would have one of the best United players around historically, Bobby Charlton maybe, to have a chat with this guy,” Gray began.
“If Raheem Sterling isn’t impressed with Kenny Dalgish, then there must be something wrong with him. It would be a good idea for them to say, ‘Kenny, go and meet the young man, sit down with him and see where his head is at, find out what he thinks, not his agent, and see if we can get this sorted’.
“It’s not doing Liverpool any good. The run-in is not the time to be debating Raheem Sterling’s future. They are the wrong headlines going into a big weekend.”
As revealed in a lengthy interview yesterday, shown here by the BBC, Sterling explained why he’s rejected our multiple contract extension offers – citing football rather than financial reasons – much to the annoyance of Liverpool fans.
Dalglish gave Sterling his debut against Wigan Athletic in March 2012, when the now world famous 20-year-old was just 17 years and 107 days old. It was Brendan Rodgers who properly facilitated his move into the first-team, but Sterling won’t forget the legend who gave him his first chance.
A word from his former boss could quite feasibly do the trick, although with captain Steven Gerrard already at the club, and manager Rodgers, you’d think there was already enough figures around Sterling to properly advise the flyer.
It’s important to remember that there’s a vital Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime, and despite Sterling’s ill-advised interview, we all need to be fully behind him when he steps onto the pitch at the Emirates – as our top four chances lay partly in his hands.