Raheem Sterling has been in the news for quite some time, and especially this summer, for more than one reason. But now he has given another one by trying to opt out of the Liverpool pre-season tour to Australia and the Far East.
He has an extremely high buy-out clause and many pundits say that the £50 million tag for the 20-year-old may not be good for him or for English football. Maybe, this reluctance can be considered to be an act of retaliation as Brendan Rodgers refuses to sell the young talent to Manchester City as easily as the player would want.
Yet, up till now, no reports of any fall in the £50-million valuation has been reported, and Liverpool seem to stand strong. If the player refuses to be a part of the tour, despite the club wanting him to, he could face disciplinary action in the future.
Liverpool has also warned Sterling that if he doesn’t get an agreeable bid, which would mean the player would have to make-do with £35,000 a week for the next two years, much to his anguish.
A similar situation had happened with Luis Suarez a few years ago, when the player wished to orchestrate his own move to Arsenal. The club then too, had stood strong, and alienated him from the team’s tour forcing him to train alone. After the ordeal, Suarez continued to play for Liverpool after having understood the improbability of the deal happening.
City, now after having the FFP constraints lifted from them, may find themselves splurging a little more. However, would they want to sign a player who disobeys and doesn’t respect the club he’s playing for? This might be just another case of the English hype getting into the minds of the younger ones.
