Amidst all the gloom of Steven Gerrard announcing he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, Liverpool fans have something to cheer about. It is being reported that 20 year old starlet Raheem Sterling is closing in on a contract extension.
The 20-year-old still has more than two years remaining on the present deal he signed in December 2012. But Liverpool naturally want to keep all the suitors — including Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich a away from one of their most important players at the moment, Not to mention, Sterling’s contribution has been immense this season and rewarding him with a more lucrative deal makes sense.
Talks between Liverpool and the playera s representatives have been ongoing for some time and while Brendan Rodgers has been confident the player would sign a new deal, reports of a breakdown in talks continued to do rounds. Sterling rejected the Redsa first offer, which was worth around A?70,000 a week.
However, it seems that Liverpool are now confident an agreement will be reached by the end of the month. The brand new, five-year contract will see the 20-year old recent European Golden Boy winner earn between A?100,000 and A?120,000 per week. The deal is widely expected to be completed and signed by the end of January, committing Sterlinga s future to Liverpool until 2020. The new deal will reportedly also be full of incentives like appearance targets and goal milestones, as well as a number of individual player honors a as was the case with Daniel Sturridgea s recently-signed new deal.
A club source said: a It was always the cluba s intention to show Raheem how much we value him and the belief is that the new contract will be in place by the end of the month.a
Regarding the ongoing speculation surrounding Sterling, Rodgers said last month: a I dona t think therea s any way therea s anything affecting him. Hea s the type of boy, hea s leaves his representatives to work with the club in order to hopefully organise the deal. Ia ll never be surprised teams are linked with Raheem because hea s such a big talent. Ia m quite relaxed about it.a