£49 million? Is that Sterling?

   

Finally it would appear the ongoing summer transfer saga between Raheem Sterling, Liverpool and Manchester City is coming to an end, after the 2 clubs agreed on an overall transfer fee of £49 million.

At 20 years of age, Sterling is reported to be getting £200k a week when he joins, on a 3 year contract, so in total the deal is £100 million pounds, which I think we can all agree is an obscene amount of money.

Liverpool paid a £600,000 down payment for the player to Queens Park Rangers 4 years ago, and now as a result of the imminent transfer to Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers are set to gain around £9-10 million, after building in a buy on clause when selling him to Liverpool, meaning they are likely to be extremely happy with the outcome.

Sterling and his agent have been angling for a move since April, when they turned down an offer of an improved contract of £100k a week, stating it is not down to money but the player wanting a club with ambition as he wants to win trophies. What followed was accusations and statements being made from all sides, which got very silly, but painted both the player and his agent in a very bad light.

Do I rate Sterling as a footballer? Yes, he is a good footballer, good speed, is strong and one can only love his willingness to take players on, which is very refreshing.

Is he worth £49 million right now? Absolutely not, he is no better than Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez or Eden Hazard, who are similar type players who were brought into the league in recent years and cost less.  Manchester City, who have huge resources, have decided to buy a British player, a full international and have bought one with massive potential, and due to that have paid an inflated price.

If Manchester City coaches can work on his weaknesses, such as his finishing, he scuffs a number of his shots at goal, his final pass and at times not getting his head up when running with the ball and people in better positions, then they have a top top player, but the coaches can only work on this if the player is willing to take on the advice, and that is a big if, strikes me that Sterling thinks he is already the finished article, and he simply is not.

£49 million for a player who has only played 3 seasons of senior football and only scored one international goal in 16 appearances when playing in an attacking position? Do me a favour.

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