Tides changing in Raheem Sterling saga as Manchester City face Liverpool
It was the second Sunday in July and Raheem
Sterling had missed two Liverpool training
sessions over the past week. Sterling’s very
public transfer saga over the prior few months
had blown up the back pages, but the Mail
claimed that Sterling was still committed to
Liverpool that morning as he was driving into
training. It wasn’t a vicious booing from
Liverpool’s traveling supporters, nor the moment
Brendan Rodgers accused Sterling of back-chat
on television, nor months of rumors that put the
nail in the coffin. Rather, it was a phone call
from Rodgers that day to confirm that Liverpool
had accepted a £49 million bid from Manchester
City for the youngster.
The saga was vigorously documented, with
Rodgers having mounted pressure on Sterling in
his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference on
February 9th. “He has been offered a wonderful
deal, an incredible deal for a young player,” said
Rodgers. As the rumors mill began to swirl into
action, Sterling took to the BBC to vent his own
frustrations and his agent, Aidy Ward further
escalated the increasingly toxic situation.
Sterling eventually went down in flames, by
chance or by design, accused of moving to City
for the luxury of a £180,000-a-week contract. “It
is a bit too much, keeps getting brought up and
not making me think the best I can,” he said, per
The Guardian. “It all adds up.”
In Liverpool’s visit to City this week, the away
end will make sure Sterling hears their vitriol.
But Sterling won’t be the only man facing his
former club — at the same time, James Milner’s
move the other way slipped under the radar. He
was signed on a £150,000-a-week contract, more
than Sterling was originally asking for and for all
of Milner’s workmanlike efficacy, there’s no
question who got the better end of the swap.
Jamie Carragher tweeted at the time: “I wish
LFC bought players as well as they sold them.”
Four months on, Carragher’s comments are more
relevant than ever as the tides have begun to
shift and Sterling has started the process of
piecing back together his reputation. Rodgers’
sacking at Liverpool in October certainly helped
the cause.
Certainly, Sterling’s form had waned in his final
days at Anfield in part due to the pressure of
being Rodgers’ main attacking outlet with the
rumors in the background at the same time,
which promoted further criticism and doubt
surrounding City’s colossal transfer fee. In his
final eleven appearances of the 2014/2015
season, he scored just one goal and managed a
shot on target a measly average of once every
125 minutes.
Yet Sterling has proven his doubters wrong this
season, scoring six goals in all competitions so
far, only behind Sergio Aguero and Kevin de
Bruyne at City. In his first eleven league games
of the season, he has nearly halved his minutes
per shot-on-target rate and has scored four goals
from the wing and up front. He’s far from a
finished product and it will take some doing for
Sterling to live up to his transfer fee,, yet as City
sit top of the table, nine points above tenth-
placed Liverpool, they’ve earned their bragging
rights. Although Sterling’s plump transfer fee
cushioned their loss, Jurgen Klopp could certainly
use his pace up front.
As the Mail revealed today, Sterling told a friend
after his City debut, a 3-0 victory over West
Bromwich Albion: “Bringing on Aguero as a sub?
Wow. I’m definitely in the right place.” Heading
into City’s meeting with Liverpool tomorrow,
there’s little doubt which party has come off the
best at the end of Sterling’s transfer saga.
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