Cashing-in on Sterling looks to make sense Get the latest City news direct to your inbox
BARCELONA seem to be eyeing up every City player at the moment.
Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Ferran Torres, Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus were all linked with the Catalan giants in the summer, all players with plenty of years left on their contracts, all players that would command massive fees, all players Barca would not have a hope of signing in their current financial state.
Barcelona have got themselves into such a sorry mess that their best ever player, perhaps the best player to ever kick a ball, was forced to leave on a free transfer even when he wanted to stay, in fact was desperate to stay.
They also had to let Antoine Griezmann, a player they spent £117m on, return to Atletico Madrid for a pittance and the few signings they did make were for free - with former Blues Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia heading to the Camp Nou.
So the continued reports linking them to some of City’s best and most important players continue to baffle, a complete disillusionment about where the club now stands in the hierarchy. A refusal to accept the new reality.
Yet, one player Barcelona are interested in could actually make a degree of sense: Raheem Sterling.
M.E.N. Sport understands the La Liga giants do hold a genuine interest in the England forward, although a deal is highly unlikely in January.
The Blues don’t like doing business in the winter window, especially any that involves selling a key first-teamer, and even though Pep Guardiola is good friends with Barcelona president Joan Laporta, that won’t extend to getting worldclass players on the cheap.
Sterling, too, is still focused on winning his place back in the team and signing a new deal. However, as the season goes on the likelihood of both of those coming to pass seems to shrink.
Sterling found himself on the outside for large parts of last season and, despite an incredible Euro 2020, remains out of favour under Guardiola this term.
The England international has started just four times in the Premier League and Champions League combined and has struggled to play the way he does with Three Lions on his chest when he does get a rare opportunity. His only goals this season have come against Norwich City and Club Brugge.
Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus are all now ahead of him in the pecking order for a spot on the flanks and it’s hard to see Sterling ousting any of them any time soon. With his contract set to expire in 2023, perhaps next summer is the perfect time to cash-in.
That would be difficult, of course, with cash-strapped Barcelona but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything that would be of interest to the Blues.
Recent reports suggested midfielder Frenkie de Jong could be offered as a makeweight in a deal for Sterling after failing to meet expectations in Catalonia.
City were interested in the Dutchman before he left Ajax - though they were put off by his wage demands - and despite his struggles in a shambolic side, he still provides plenty of qualities that would appeal to Guardiola, especially his metronome-like dictation of play. With Fernandinho’s time at the
club likely coming to an end, Ilkay Gundogan now 31 and Foden pushing into an attacking role, midfield is a position the Blues may need to look to strengthen soon and an Ajaxeducated midfielder who is comfortable with the ball at his feet and a great passer couldn’t be more suited to the side.
City are no strangers to swapping players either, even if technically the move that saw Cancelo and Danilo switch places were two separate transfers.
A move would also do Sterling a world of good, too. He has accomplished amazing things at City and, as he proved in the summer, remains a sublime footballer. Things have just gone stale for him at the Etihad but there’s no shame in that. Times change.
Going to Barcelona, who will be looking to build back up again under club legend Xavi, a manager who wants a pacey winger to make his ideal 4-3-3 formation work, could be a very exciting switch that sees him regain his best form at club level. City shouldn’t be so quick to shut down any talk of Sterling heading to Spain, because in this scenario everybody wins.