Smoke and mirrors in Raheem Sterling contract impasse: evaluating the latest transfer reports

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Hopefully Arsenal will bid £40,000,001 and we’ll tell them where to put it…

A report in the Independent has claimed the possibility of Raheem Sterling leaving Liverpool in the summer is getting ever more likely with the club reluctant to agree to the forward’s wage demands.

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The report says that both the club and Sterling are currently at an impasse in negotiations with the 20-year-old already rejecting a chance to triple his wages by agreeing to a £100,000 per-week package.

However, Sterling is thought to be holding out for around £150,000 per-week which is the the same as top earner Daniel Sturridge, whilst the club are simply refusing to go that high and their last offer is set to be their final one.

The Independent even goes so far as to claim Liverpool now believe Sterling sees his future away from Anfield and would be willing to accept offers from other clubs if they meet his wage demands.

And if this were to happen a deal to sell him would be sought this summer to ensure a sizeable fee is accrued rather than wait until 2016 when he would then have just one year left on his deal.

Arsenal and Manchester City are the two clubs the Indy say are intrigued in signing him.

It’s unclear just how to approach this story given the club and Sterling are locked deep in discussions and the press will be used by both to pressure the other side into acting based on the reactions of the fan base and the football community in general.

What’s the motivation of this story and who is behind it? If it’s the club it’s surely an attempt to show the Sterling camp they would be willing to let him go if push comes to shove and will not be held to ransom.

On the flip-side, if it’s the player’s representatives who have leaked the details, it may be an attempt to stir up anger amongst supporters who could see the club’s reluctance to bend the knee to Sterling as throwing away perhaps the best young player in the world.

It’s important to have perspective like this whenever reading a story like this. We’ve seen countless times before how the media have been used in this exact way – just look back to Luis Suarez and his claim he wanted to move to Arsenal.

Sterling’s done nothing of the sort, and until he states so publicly, it’s hard to believe he’s planning to leave Liverpool.

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