Respected journalist urges Liverpool to sell Raheem Sterling now

Liverpool have been urged to take the money on the table for Raheem Sterling, as the England international is overrated, according to Andy Dunn.

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In his column in the Daily Mirror, the journalist believes that if a club is willing to pay a large fee for the 20-year-old, we should not think twice about letting him go.

“If someone is prepared to rid Anfield of Sterling and his agent AND hand over £40million, then Liverpool should walk him to his destination,” he said.

Dunn thinks that while the player has looked exciting in the past, the loss of key players has meant that his role in the side has changed. But rather than rise to the occasion, he suggested that the winger has gone missing.

“He was very good when enjoying the time and space given to him by the unremitting brilliance and labour of Luis Suarez, the constant threat of Daniel Sturridge and the last vestiges of Steven Gerrard’s majesty, but has hardly thrived when the burden of responsibility has grown,” he explained.

Sterling’s future has long been a talking point, after he rejected a new contract £100,000 a week, and took part in an interview unsanctioned by the club to explain his decision, BBC reported last month. He explained in the interview that he intended to put talks in the background until the end of the season.

And with little riding on the final game of the Premier League campaign against Stoke, BBC Sport reported at the start of the week that Sterling intended to tell Brendan Rodgers when they next met that he did not intend to sign a new deal.

Despite having another two years left on his contract, Sterling has seemingly made his position untenable at Anfield. And as Dunn suggested, it would be a mistake to let his value plummet, before losing him on a possible free in two years time. While his value is at its highest, it makes sense to cash in, and get someone in that plays with the passion required.