Raheem Sterling is leaving Liverpool but his recent behaviour should be a warning sign to Manchester City
Manchester City have £49m bid for Liverpool's Raheem Sterling accepted
Sterling has angled for a move and has skipped training and a tour
Manuel Pellegrini has placed faith in Sterling but should not expect it back
By MARTIN SAMUEL - SPORT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 16:31 EST, 12 July 2015 | UPDATED: 00:33 EST, 13 July 2015
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We understand why Raheem Sterling has left Liverpool. He wants an upgrade: in the standard of his team-mates, the potential for achievement, quite probably in salary, too. So, yes, we get it. What is harder to fathom is why Manchester City have been so determined to sign him.
Do they think Sterling will change, simply by swapping a red shirt for sky blue? What leads Manchester City to think he will treat their club with any more respect than Liverpool, if circumstances change?
Sterling’s behaviour in recent weeks should be a warning sign. Having put up with Carlos Tevez taking a mid-season sabbatical, why would they wish to go through that turmoil again?
Carlos Tevez fell out with Roberto Mancini in 2011 after being left on the bench against Bayern Munich
Liverpool and Manchester City are not so different, really. Liverpool have not won the title in the modern era, and the optimism that followed the 2013-14 season was short-lived.
Manchester City have won the Premier League twice and are now established as Champions League regulars, but they do not sit easily among Europe’s aristocracy.
The third tier of English football is an all too recent memory, and the giants of Spain, Bayern Munich, even two or three clubs in England would all be considered bigger.
Even a brief spell in the wilderness of the Europa League would make City undesirable. Imagine if they finished seventh, like Manchester United. They would have none of United’s historic pull to get them back on their feet.
City’s future is presumed to be all glory and Pep Guardiola, but what if it isn’t? What if it goes a little flat or needs time? Is Sterling the patient sort? We know the answer to that one. He didn’t wait around to see if Liverpool’s next swing at revamping the team post-Luis Suarez was a success, so he probably wouldn’t wait at City, either.
In recent weeks, Sterling has as good as downed tools. He has called in sick and refused to travel on the club tour. He hasn’t gone as far as Tevez, who returned to South America after a disagreement with Roberto Mancini, but isn’t far short. And those days were a nightmare for City.
The Argentine striker was made to train alone at Carrington when he finally returned to the club
Sterling didn't wait around to see if Brendan Rodgers (left) could reshape the team, so will he at City?
Each morning executives discussed the club’s position in a conference call. They considered how to handle the latest bulletins from Argentina, how to make certain Tevez and his advisors had no claim to breach of contract. Everything was done by the book. It was exhausting and time consuming — and one imagines a similar process went on at Liverpool over the last week, too.
Why would City then risk importing more aggravation — and at such a high price? Tevez was a proven goalscorer who had succeeded at some of the world’s best clubs. Before and after the fall-out in 2011, he was a fine performer for City.
Sterling? He had an outstanding first season and was inconsistent the next. Having to compensate for the loss of Suarez, plus Daniel Sturridge to injury, and the failure of Mario Balotelli, did not help — but Liverpool having held out for £49m, that is still a big gamble on City’s part.
There is a reason that City ended up the only game in town. They might have had competition from Chelsea, or even Manchester United, at £30m — so extracting an additional £19m from Manchester City is good business.
Tevez was a proven goalscorer and was a fine performer for City before and after the fall-out of 2011
Sterling is an expensive gamble for City - Liverpool did well to extract an extra £19m out of the club
And, again, we ask...
Michael Owen is adamant that Sterling can be adequately replaced by Liverpool and he is arguably right. It is what losing him represents, more than the immediate impact, that is a worry — plus the fear Liverpool will use the cash to make more ‘smart, sustainable’ signings, instead of a marquee acquisition to replace like for like. For if Liverpool fans wonder why it is suddenly impossible to keep their best players, look no further than the words of chief executive Ian Ayre, speaking to The Manager magazine.
It was Ayre who talked of players as ‘cost items’ and of buying in a ‘smart, sustainable way’. Decoded this means that Liverpool, like Tottenham Hotspur, buy with one eye on long-term market value.
They are not about to splash £15m on 30-year-old Bastian Schweinsteiger, for instance. Yet if Liverpool buy with an eye on resale, they cannot be surprised if Sterling also plays the market.
It is easy to portray him as a money-grabber but, as Ayre makes clear, Liverpool are quite keen on the stuff, too.
Even so, there are ways of saying goodbye and Sterling has endeared himself to few in recent weeks.
City, however, remained faithful. Just so long as they do not expect the same in return.
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