Raheem Sterling has been the focus of transfer speculation since he handed in a transfer request near the end of last season. The young Englishman caused quite a stir when he turned down a new contract because £100,000 a week did not meet his personal demands and his agent did nothing but fuel the fire regarding a move ever since.
Manchester City were on red alert as soon as Sterling demanded a move and had previously had two transfer offers rejected before finally agreeing a reported fee of £49million with potential add ons. Personal terms must now be agreed by the two sides, but this will no doubt be a minor hurdle as the England winger looks to swap Anfield for the Etihad. The fee, £49 million, will make the 20 year-old the most expensive English player ever, smashing the £35 million paid for for striker Andy Carroll by Liverpool under the reign of Kenny Dalglish back in 2011.
Sterling has much to prove when he pulls on the sky blue jersey as his ability is still under debate. The former QPR youngster has played 95 times in the Premier League but has contributed just 18 goals, fewer than Harry Kane and as many as Charlie Austin managed in the space of just one season.
Sterling is a raw talent who has bags of pace and the ability to glide past defenders. He will be nurtured by Manuel Pellegrini who will most likely use him in his natural position as a winger. Although Sterling has shown during his time at Liverpool that he is comfortable playing as a number 10 and as a striker, the necessity for him to do so at City will be considerably less than it was at Liverpool, as City have considerable strength in depth in those departments..
Liverpool eyes will no doubt now switch to whom they could bring in to replace Sterling and with a massive fee soon to hit the Anfield bank balance, the rumour will be ignite with names of potential signings. Not all of the £49million will be heading to Liverpool as QPR will receive 20% of the fee due to an add-on in the sale of Sterling to Liverpool back in 2010.
Over the next couple of days more details of the move will emerge of the transfer maybe including the specifics of the add ons and the amount he will earn a week. One thing’s for certain: the transfer saga which could have potentially dragged across the whole summer window has come to a speedy end.
