CARRAGHER ON STERLING
Should Liverpool be rubbing their hands at getting £49million?
There’s no doubt it’s an astronomical amount of money considering his career so far. It’s a great price for Liverpool and City are paying well over the odds. It should be £25m to £30m but the reason it’s so high is that City are so desperate to have English-born players — and not just squad players, but people who will go straight into the first team. Liverpool have exploited that.
Neither Sterling nor his agent come out of this very well?
Sadly, that seems to be the modern game. Nowadays hardly anyone seems to leave a club out of the front door, it’s always via the back door.
What should Liverpool spend the money on?
Liverpool have done good business so far this summer. James Milner is a good signing in midfield and Danny Ings has plenty to prove and should be a very useful striker around the squad. The Brazilian Firmino is the standout name in the purchases so far but they need one or two others who can go straight into the team. Christian Benteke is a major target and there may be one other. It’s going to be a hostile atmosphere but that won’t be a shock to him. The Liverpool supporters have to move on, it’s gone now. It’s now got to be about the on-field Raheem — where he’s at his best — rather than the off-field performances.
Will he be able to handle the price tag?
It was difficult for Raheem (left) when he came to Liverpool from London as a teenager but he coped. And that’s not just about ability, that’s about having the right mentality. All eyes in the country will be on him now, wherever he plays. Hopefully, we will see more performances like those that almost took Liverpool to the title, or his display against Italy for England at the last World Cup. I hope he does well, I’d like to see him flourish because he does have the potential to be a star for club and country.
Where will he play at City?
Sterling’s problem now is that David Silva plays in his best two positions — off the front and wide left — so the obvious position for him is wide right, as Jesus Navas is yet to convince.