Liverpool FC Forum

[C-R]

Now Liverpool Echo reporting we will knock the bid back...

Liverpool are set to reject a £40m bid from Manchester City for Raheem Sterling.

The Reds turned down an initial bid of £30m for the England international last week, but City have now returned with a second approach.

The new deal is understood to consist of an initial £35m, with a further £5m due in add-ons.

Liverpool, though, still value Sterling at £50m, and will resist City’s latest offer.

City are one of a number of clubs keen to tempt the 20-year-old away from Anfield, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all keen on signing him

Liverpool remain determined that they will not be forced into selling one of their prized assets, despite the fact Sterling and his camp have indicated that he will not sign a new contract with the club.

His current deal has two-years remaining, though his representative, Aidy Ward, stated last month that he would not sign a new one for “even £900,000 a week.”

That prompted Liverpool to cancel a planned meeting with the player, who has made 129 appearances for the Reds since breaking into the team as a 17-year-old.

A potential swap deal has been mooted in some quarters, with City striker Edin Dzeko mentioned as a possible makeweight. Liverpool, though, are unlikely to entertain such an offer. They are, at present, refusing to be budged on their £50m valuation of the player.

[lakes10]

I would sell him. Look at it this way. He dont want to be here and i don't think you will get more than 45mil for him. If we keep him he will never play to his full ability. Take the 40mil

[leeroy74]

£50m or don't bother knocking.  £50m would leave us with £40m after we've donated £10m to QPR (who the fuk agreed that deal?)

or tell Mancity...   £40m upfront to LFC and they pay QPR £10m over the next 4 years.

[only me]

I would sell him. Look at it this way. He dont want to be here and i don't think you will get more than 45mil for him. If we keep him he will never play to his full ability. Take the 40mil

Take and laugh.

[Ben Patrick]

I think I am the only person on here that thinks he is a top top player.

It's another big blow if and when he goes.
I wouldnt entertain any offers under 50 million.
Pellegrini said last season that Raheem was worth 100 million. Well if City want him then we should be throwing that back at them and asking for 60

[kazza]

I think I am the only person on here that thinks he is a top top player.

It's another big blow if and when he goes.
I wouldnt entertain any offers under 50 million.
Pellegrini said last season that Raheem was worth 100 million. Well if City want him then we should be throwing that back at them and asking for 60

He is a top player but he has allowed his situation to become untenable. I would hold out as we have a long time to go and he will probably sell for the 50 we want.

[red till i die!!]

I think I am the only person on here that thinks he is a top top player.

It's another big blow if and when he goes.
I wouldnt entertain any offers under 50 million.
Pellegrini said last season that Raheem was worth 100 million. Well if City want him then we should be throwing that back at them and asking for 60

I don't think he is top drawer myself but has the potential to be   

Put it this way if the situation was reversed and we were being quoted 50 mil for him would you think its a good deal ?

Of course if city are willing to pay it then take hand and all but I think he will go for less than that. Personally I believe the club are desperate to sell rather than keep him as he has left his situation untenable.  He will pull out all the stops to force this move and if they try and hold out on him it will get dirty.

None of our players are untouchable if the price is right 

[kazza]

I think I am the only person on here that thinks he is a top top player.

It's another big blow if and when he goes.
I wouldnt entertain any offers under 50 million.
Pellegrini said last season that Raheem was worth 100 million. Well if City want him then we should be throwing that back at them and asking for 60

I don't think he is top drawer myself but has the potential to be   

Put it this way if the situation was reversed and we were being quoted 50 mil for him would you think its a good deal ?

Of course if city are willing to pay it then take hand and all but I think he will go for less than that. Personally I believe the club are desperate to sell rather than keep him as he has left his situation untenable.  He will pull out all the stops to force this move and if they try and hold out on him it will get dirty.

None of our players are untouchable if the price is right 

If the situation was reversed I'd say 40 million was too much.

[Penguins]

Take the 40 million or else we'll just see that same garbage from him as the last 6 months.

[Reg]

Ben, he is a top player when surrounded by other top players as we saw last year, but surrounded by average cr@p he drops to  similar level. He'll do well at Citeh next season, he'll do nowt at Anfield in comparison.

[aCe']

Ben, he is a top player when surrounded by other top players as we saw last year, but surrounded by average cr@p he drops to  similar level. He'll do well at Citeh next season, he'll do nowt at Anfield in comparison.

Good point. He has a specific skill set. He's a very good player but not worth anywhere near the 40-50 mill being talked about. However, if you play him in the right position around the right players he can be devastating to play against. He has pace. trickery, and excellent off the ball movement. Personally I think he's more suited to a side that plays on the counter (City are one of the few sides in the division that can play both possession and on the counter) but he'll do well around the likes of Aguero and Silva.

I think if we are looking to replace him with someone who also plays down the flank, we can do much worse than put in a decent bid for Walcott, or failing that Lavezzi.

[maguskwt]

I'd sell him... don't feck about anymore. He's not worth it. And we're losing precious time.

And why would we need to find a replacement for him? We've already got Ibe. Another one is Markovic. I'd use all that money and add 10 more million or so and buy a world class striker... c'mon FSG, you know we need a world class striker, not benteke...

[johnbarnes]

There's a lot in this thread suggesting that Sterling isn't worth 40-50M.
OK - I get it. It's a lot of money! But not in the world of today's current football transfer market.

Let's compare:
CURRENCY: GBP
Jordan Henderson - bought for 20M (dependant on source)
Michael Carrick - 14-18M (dependant on source)
Antonio Valencia - 16M (dependant on source)
James Rodriguez - 63M (dependant on source)
Neymar - 40M (dependant on source)

So looking at the above, isn't it fair to say that in today's current transfer climate, LFC are holding out for a fee that can be deemed as market value?
Michael Carrick wasn't worth the money neither was Antonio Valencia but Manure paid it and won the league with both players. SO THEIR VALUE INCREASES at the time of success!
Neymar is a quality player providing he is surrounded by quality players which he is. The same can be said about James Rodriguez. Both of whom had v good world cup campaigns last year.
The same can be said of Sterling -
1. Sterling was outstanding when played alongside one of the best players in the world.
2. Had a v good World Cup (albeit his team were SH!T)
3. Still very young. Youth come at a premium
4. Has already finish runner-up in EPL
5. Has represented LFC at UEFA CL level
6. Sterling has a strong Marketing commercial base. RS has 1.23M followers on Twitter alone.
Let's say that the RS brand sells to 10% of his Twitter followers (1 in 10 not much).
That's 123,000 shirts sold at £50 each that's 6.15M. This is just coming from one social media account. THIS ADDS VALUE TO THE PLAYER!
7. Last but not least. He is English.

ALL OF THIS ADDS REAL VALUE TO THE PLAYER - whether it is right or wrong.

The days of signing a John Barnes for 1M are gone. It's that simple.

After all this the on-going saga. Could you imagine the uproar if LFC let Sterling go for 25M? Just another reason for FSG to get bashed!
AT LEAST THEY ARE STANDING BY THEIR OWN PRINCIPLES - That's got to be credit worthy?

[Penguins]

No one is advocating selling him for 25 million.
The fact is he has completely burned his bridges with us, won't sign a new contract, only has 2 years left and plays like he doesn't want to be here.
50 million is imo not reasonable for a 20 year old who hasn't broken out yet. (not that I mind though)
If we spend 40-50 million we'd want a ready made world class player.

[johnbarnes]

No one is advocating selling him for 25 million.
The fact is he has completely burned his bridges with us, won't sign a new contract, only has 2 years left and plays like he doesn't want to be here.
50 million is imo not reasonable for a 20 year old who hasn't broken out yet. (not that I mind though)
If we spend 40-50 million we'd want a ready made world class player.

Yes and this may have been true 3 seasons ago. However, ALL the top world class strikers in the past 12-18 months have gone for more than 40-50M or are worth more than 50M.
Yes he has burned bridges with us, but what FSG are showing is that business isn't personal and are doing right (in this case) by LFC (which includes us) and not the player.
Someone needs to teach these young multi-millionaire SPLIT-AR$E$ that they can't have it all their own way.

If they can't sell him, have him play his football with the youngsters. That would send shockwaves around the club!
MORE POWER TO THEM!