Liverpool attacker Raheem Sterling has revealed that his ongoing contract stand-off with the club is not about the money after few handful of the fans have hit out at the youngster for not accepting what is in front of him.
Sterling has been one of the best talents to come out of the Liverpool academy in the last decade after making the move from QPR’s youth setup to Liverpool when he was a 15-year old and has taken the Premier League by storm in the last two seasons.
Such has been his form that Liverpool offered him a contract worth A?100,000-a-week; almost three times worth his current contract which fetches him A?35,000-a-week. However, Sterling rejected the deal which angered few of the fans and it also brought out the issue of young players getting too much money in their early in their career. A?100,000-a-week seems like a lot of money for a 20-year old, so it was shocking to see Sterling reject the deal.
However, as it turns out, Sterling wasn’t worried about the monetary aspect of the contract but it is related to the football ambitions that he has in his mind.
Sterling told BBC, “I don’t want to be seen as a money-grabbing 20-year-old.
“I just want to be seen as a kid that loves to play football.”
Sterling’s current contract runs till 2017, so it must be an ever increasing headache for the club as they’ll not want to lose him for cheap. The Jamaican-born Englan international has been linked with some European powerhouses like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. In addition to that, Arsenal have started considering Sterling as a potential buy which is further worrying for Liverpool.
Sterling was a key factor in Liverpool’s resurrection after a horrendous start to the campaign. Brendan Rodgers changed the system to accommodate him up front and it worked as his pace and work rate helped the Merseysiders regain that ‘pressing from the top’ trait that was lost as neither Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert were providing that in the first half of the season.
Sterling has contributed six goals and seven assists in 28 league appearances so far and has eight more games to match or even beat his goal tally of nine that he achieved last season. That being said, his performances have been more than just goals and assists this season compared to the last one that won him the Golden Boy accolade.
