Javier Pastore (Paris Saint-Germain)
With the Ligue 1 title in the bag this season, and Champions League football beckoning again next year, it seems very difficult to see the 25-year-old deciding to move to Merseyside. Selfishly, the only thing we can hope for is that the number of superstars currently in the Paris Saint-Germain side forces Laurent Blanc to make some questionable decisions like leaving Pastore out, and thus forcing him to consider his future. Unlike the previous two players, he is much more commonly seen behind the striker, and his goal tally reflects that. In a championship winning side, you would perhaps expect better than five goals in 33 appearances. However, he has created 12 goals for his teammates, that’s five more than Raheem Sterling.
Unsurprisingly given his assist record, his passing is his greatest strength and so for that reason, he would probably look more like a Steven Gerrard replacement.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
With Robert Lewandowski’s move to Bayern Munich, the 25-year-old has really been able to step out of the shadow this season. And while Borussia Dortmund spent much of the campaign struggling, and even looked like possible relegation candidates, their season could now end with a spot in the Europa League. Aubameyang has 15 goals having spent the year as a striker, but he can also play out on the wing. He offers much more of an aerial threat than Sterling, which would come in just as handy when it came to defending set-pieces, as it would attacking them.
He offers an immense amount of pace that would certainly help the transition after we initially sold Sterling, before he can fully make his mark on the side.