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£49 million in Sterling!

By on July 12, 2015

What does £49 million of British sterling get you these days? Well, Sterling of course! Manchester City are willing to pay a record sum for an Englishman to buy controversial 20-year-old Raheem Sterling from Liverpool this summer. Sterling’s transfer saga has sparked more headlines in the past twelve months in than if Jeremy Clarkson and Mario Balotelli had an unlikely punch-up. But even with all the hype, the fee City are reportedly willing to pay is very much a risk.

It would outdo the Premier League record of £35 million Liverpool paid for an Englishman, Andy Carroll, from Newcastle in January 2011. The record British signing across European clubs is, of course, the £86 million shelled out by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale in September 2013. The exorbitant fee for young Sterling is, however, a new record for Manchester City, followed by their £38 million coup of Sergio Aguero. Aguero has easily met expectations, especially after scoring a Premier League-winning goal in 2012. Sterling however, provides more of a risk considering his young age, but with similar potential. Richard Lewis takes a look at some of Manchester City’s transfer action.

Ster-Crazy Money for rebel Raheem!

Manuel Pellegrini has gotten young blood instated into his City side with Sterling. And while that means meeting Sterling’s wage demands for potentially the rest of his career, the Sky Blues won’t run short of money soon. Sterling did turn down £100,000-week at Anfield, however, with his agent claiming he “would not stay for £900,000-a-week.” Sterling claims not to a “money grabbing footballer,” who is instead only interested in winning trophies, hence his move to City. Granted, how many trophies did City win last season? None. To be fair, the opportunity of UEFA Champions League football surely lured Sterling.  Granted, if Sterling has trouble breaking into City’s starting eleven, the trophies may not be worth the lack of playing time.

It seems Ster-crazy to be paying £49 million for a player who carries with him so much controversy.  Liverpool may indeed be glad to get Sterling off their hands before he could leave on a free and have already braced his absence with signings including highly-rated Brazilian Roberto Firmino.  Liverpool got their money and City got their main target — everyone wins apart from City’s main title rivals!

City, on the other hand, needed Sterling in part to fill a quota of Englishmen or home-grown players in their squad after midfielders James Milner and Frank Lampard departed the Etihad Stadium this summer.  Like the giant in “Jack and the Beanstalk,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini smelt the blood of an Englishman when Sterling’s controversy heated up.  Now, Pellegrini will hope Sterling can created some magic with Sergio Aguero and David Silva up front.

A lack of Delph-confidence!

However, the Manchester giants have seemed to missed out on Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph, who now claims to be staying at Villa Park rather then heading north for City. English midfielder Delph was heavily linked with a move to the Sky Blues, but reportedly intends to stay at Villa Park, none the least because of worries over playing time.  Especially as a potential for Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 England squad, Delph and others are understandably wary of a change in environment so close to the deadline.  Sterling then, will have extra incentive to impress at City.

Photo credit: Biser Todorov, via Wikipedia Commons

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.