Liverpool have been urged to re-sign former attacker Raheem Sterling from rivals Manchester City by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand.
Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE YouTUBE show, as relayed by the ECHO, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has urged Liverpool to consider re-signing Raheem Sterling from Premier League champions Manchester City.
Sterling, after making the switch to Liverpool’s youth setup from QPR, rose to prominence at Anfield. The 26-year-old went on to make over 120 appearances for the Reds, in which he scored 23 goals and set up 25 more.
However, the Englishman ended up securing a big-money move to Manchester City in the summer of 2015, with his transfer leaving behind a bad taste among the Liverpool faithful. Since signing for the Cityzens, Sterling has scaled great heights, becoming an integral part of an all-conquering, dominant team under Pep Guardiola.
To date, the England international has racked up a highly impressive tally of 115 goals and 87 assists in nearly 300 games for the Sky Blues. However, Sterling’s position in the squad has been diminishing of late. Indeed, the 26-year-old seemed to have lost some prominence towards the backend of the last season.
It was, however, believed that he would be back at the top at the Etihad after an impressive Euro 2020 tournament. But that has not been the case as the ex-Liverpool ace finds himself behind new signing Jack Grealish in the pecking order. Indeed, of Manchester City’s six games across all competitions this term, Sterling has started just two.
Given the situation, Ferdinand has slammed City over his treatment, while insisting that top clubs would line up to sign him. “Where’s Raheem Sterling? He’s lost confidence because he’s been taken out of the team,” he said. “He was the go-to guy when they needed a goal, for so many years, and now all of a sudden he’s in the wilderness.
“I’m baffled by it, I just don’t understand, With Pep, he gets things right more often than not, but with this one there must be clubs sitting there going ‘let’s see how this pans out’ because I would take Sterling all day!,” he added.
Ferdinand then goes on to tip Liverpool to re-sign the 26-year-old, while also name-dropping his former club Manchester United as someone who would take him up in a heartbeat. The ex-England international said, “If I’m Liverpool, I’d buy Sterling tomorrow … If I’m him, I wouldn’t go to Barcelona or Real Madrid right now, that’s why I said Liverpool … Man United will take him!”
Despite his recent drop in stature, Sterling remains a top player and has been linked with a January switch to Barcelona. As for Ferdinand wanting Liverpool to re-sign him, it would be extremely unlikely that City would want to strengthen a direct rival by handing them one of their best players. Furthermore, the acrimonious circumstances created during Sterling’s Anfield exit means a return would be difficult to engineer.
