6) Asier Illarramendi (Real Madrid) – linked by Daily Mirror
A real underrated player this. His two years at Madrid have not gone as well as he might have hoped, but he’s still featured on a semi-regular basis and was an important member of the squad that won the Champions League a year or so ago. We’re due a favour from former manager Rafael Benitez, and this guy could definitely fit the bill.
5) Pedro (Barcelona) – linked by Metro
Arguably the perfect man to replace Sterling, if we’re looking for a like-for-like swap. Like Raheem, he can play out wide, behind the striker, or through the middle in a false nine role. It’s hard for him to get a game at Barcelona with Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar ahead of him in the pecking order, but don’t let that fool you.
4) Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) – linked by Daily Star
He’s ours for £64.7m, say the Star. That’s an awful lot of money to pay. However, if we were to sell Sterling for more than half of that fee, would it be completely crazy to reinvest it all on one player? The Argentine has been prolific in both Spain and Italy. He has proven quality and in terms of strikers there’s not much of that available.
