Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has refused to rule out a move for Liverpool‘s contract rebel Raheem Sterling.
It was revealed on Monday that the 20 year-old and his representatives intend to tell Liverpool he does not plan to sign a new deal at the club when contract talks resume later this week.
Ben Smith of the BBC reported: Sterling will meet Reds chief executive Ian Ayre and Rodgers on Friday, when he is set to tell them he wants to go. The club have declined to comment but it is understood they still want the 20-year-old, whose deal ends in 2017.
Arsenal and Manchester City have been linked with a move for the Liverpool attacker and Arsene Wenger refused to rule out the possibility when questioned at his weekly press conference.
a I do not bid for anybody at the moment,a Wenger said. a But in the summer we will bid for people, yes.”
When asked specifically about Raheem Sterling, Wenger replied, a I do not like to lie. If I say I will and I dona t do it, you will say I lied.a
While Liverpool have insisted time and again that they will rather keep the player on his existing wages, rather than sell him to a rival, their resolve may be tested by an offer in the region of A?35m.
The player has insisted that his decision is not about money but will be motivated by his will to win trophies. Liverpool will be finishing trophyless for the third year running and will not be competing in the Champions League next season.
Meanwhile Liverpool ECHO, believed to be the mouthpiece of the club, have reported that the club won’t be bullied into selling the player.
James Pearce reports: “For Luis Suarez in 2013, read Raheem Sterling in 2015. Liverpool intend to adopt the same approach. The owners stood firm when Suarez demanded that he was allowed to join Arsenal, who wrongly believed that they could trigger a release clause by offering in excess of A?40million,
“And the Reds have vowed to do likewise if Manchester City or anyone else follow up their interest in Sterling over the coming weeks by tabling a bid. The message is clear – they wona t be bullied into selling.”