Raheem Sterling has given a lengthy interview to Gary Lineker, cited here in the Daily Mail, and as always – has made some rather odd remarks about his former club Liverpool…
The 21-year-old will always be an enemy of Anfield, due to the toxic manner in which he and his agent Aidy Ward forced him out of the club in 2015.
First he refused our new contracts, then missed training sessions and held interviews stating his desire to depart the club who helped him become the world’s most highly rated youngster.
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According to the winger though, this was always the plan he’d concocted with Ward – the odious, outspoken representative.
“I’ve never mentioned this to anyone but I’ll never forget when me and my agent were on our way to Liverpool on the train,” Sterling began…
“At that time I was 15 years old and we were already talking about what we’d like to do after Liverpool if things didn’t turn out like we wanted.
“I just said well this is a massive club and a massive opportunity for me now but I remember saying to him by the time I’m 22, if I haven’t won anything or playing in the biggest competitions then I need to assess my options.
“You want to make sure you’re playing at the highest level. Liverpool are a great team, I never said that wasn’t the case. But at the time it was a great opportunity to come here and work with some of the best players in the world.
“I’m not saying there aren’t some great players at Liverpool because there are but it was for me, my development and where I wanted to be. It was about playing in the Champions League and against the biggest teams like Barcelona; for me that’s a massive game to be involved in.”
Sterling’s comments reek of a mercenary, which is why he’s booed at so many Premier League grounds.
He bottled his return to Anfield last season and was subbed at half-time after Jon Flanagan crunched him early on – which was one of the most pleasurable moments of 2015/16, actually.
Now, with Sadio Mane on the right, Coutinho on the left and Roberto Firmino central – there’s no spot for Sterling in the team.
We’re glad we cashed in as we’d unlikely have ended up with Mane, who for us is a more dangerous player.
So we’d like to thank Sterling for his behaviour in 2015… For Liverpool, it worked out just fine in the end.