His current contract runs out at the end of next season and he appears to be avoiding the subject of putting pen to paper, insisting ‘its not about the money’ when asked about suggestions that he has turned down a £100k per week deal.
Rewind 10 years and a certain Michael Owen was doing the same. He used every excuse in the book to avoid sitting down with the club and negotiating a new deal to renew his contract which would have ended at the end of the following season.
On 30th July he stated: “We're still in talks and we've got further meetings planned. We've been speaking for a long time but not since the new manager took charge. No one, including myself, wants this to drag on into the season and hopefully it will all be concluded soon.“
Then on 5th August he added: "We're getting closer but we're not quite there yet. We had a meeting in New York recently and we're due to have another one next week. We're in no rush.”
One of the very first actions taken by the new manager, a certain Rafael Benitez, was to ask Owen straight if he was going to sign a new contract. He didn’t and by 12th August a transfer to Real Madrid was agreed, the fee a paltry £8m - a fraction of the fee he would have commanded a year earlier.
Raheem Sterling’s contract expires at the end of next season. If its not extended now then his value will decrease by the start of next season. By that time his agent will likely advise him to see out his contract and sign a pre-contract deal with another club for a free transfer at the end of next season. Liverpool would then receive nothing.
If Sterling’s intentions are to move club, then our only hope of getting a realistic price for him would be to sell as soon as the transfer window opens at the end of the season.
If, as he claims, he wants to stay then put a pen in his hand, put his ‘money where his mouth is’ and get him to sign that piece of paper right now.
