Liverpool star Raheem Sterling has been in the news an awful lot over the last week or so and anything on the 20-year-old seems to spread like wildfire. The news of him rejecting a contract has alerted not only clubs in England, but also a few abroad.
One such club happens to be Spanish giants Real Madrid who are apparently watching the forward with a keen eye.
Madrid assistant coach Zinedine Zidane revealed that the club are following a process similar to the one they followed while recruiting the likes of Gareth Bale, Raphael Varane and Isco.
“We know who Raheem Sterling is, and of course we are monitoring him as a player,” said Zidane, before adding, “We monitored Bale for over a year, the same with Isco and also Varane.”
Zidane, then, hailed Sterlinga s progress at Liverpool, calling the 20-year-old as one of only a few players who can improve the current Los Blancos team.
“There are very few players in the world who can improve the Real Madrid squad, so it is going to make sense we monitor the progress of the best young players in the world.”
“We monitor many of the best young players in Europe, then if we feel they have something to offer Real Madrid we will contact their club and try and make the next step.”
While Zidane talks about young players at Madrid, the club dona t usually endorse that policy too much. Players of the likes of Asier Illaramendi, Alvaro Moratta and Isco have all found themselves warming the bench for prolonged periods at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Moratta, in fact, left the club at the end of last season and has since become an important player at Italian club Juventus.
Yet, ita s true that at Madrid, only the best players can get on the pitch. Former Manchester United man Javier Hernandez was shunted out of the first team and got his first outing in more than a couple of months this weekend in Madrida s 9-1 demolition of Granada.
Sterling should weigh his options before making a call, but one has to wonder what Zidanea s comments would mean to him after admitting he found Arsenala s interest in him a quite flatteringa .
