I find this all very strange. People seem to be getting very excited about a too talkative player and his agent (who the hell gives a 30 minute interview about his contractual situation anyway). I would add that I wish the manager would talk a little less as well, but hey ho, he likes to gab. All this should have been in-house, but now its out there (in an interview with the BBC that lasted 30 minutes, ffs, the game is dead, dead I tell thee) we may as well talk about it I guess.
A few observations I would like to make.
- Yes, as (prev poster has noted), Liverpool are 5th richest in terms of revenue in the league... but not by much. United's revenue dwarfs everyone elses, but Arsenal, City and Chelsea are not that far ahead in terms of earnings. Yes, the latter two appear to have bottomless pockets, but they still have to balance the books for FFP. That has begun to bite in the last two years and will probably continue to do so in the next few. Meanwhile, Liverpool will increase revenue in the next 5 years, they are increasingly going to be in a position to compete.
- Despite the fact that Liverpool are getting wealthier faster relative to those around them (journos talking of the club going backwards are morons), that doesn't mean they should just meet whatever wage demands are made. Its not just Sterling that are impacted, if he get a wage hike the rest of the players will quickly follow suit.
- However, I don't agree with those complaining about his wage demands. He is right to maximize his money while he can and either the club can afford to pay him or not, after that its just noise.
Personally I think he is being a bit of a moron here. He claims its about trophies, but thats really about PL and CL. That's a load of balls too, when you think about it. 4 English teams have won the CL in 30 years (United, 2, Liverpool, Chelsea) 3 in the last decade (United, Liverpool Chelsea). He's at one of the clubs most likely to actually win one (since they have pedigree, unlike Arsenal and City). If its the PL, then Arsenal haven't won one in a decade and don't look likely to. In fact Liverpool have come closer twice in the last decade (2009, 2014). That leaves City, United and Chelsea, but look who is competing with for places there; Di Maria, Rooney, Mata,RVP at United, Silva, Nasri, Jovetic, Aguero at City and Willian, Hazard, Costa, Fabregas and Cuadrado at Chelsea. Hell, if he plumps for Arsenal he's got Walcott, Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez and Cazorla to push out.
Perhaps he could go abroad, but lets be honest, he would get eaten alive at Madrid, Barca have a transfer embargo (and he wouldn't get near the team), Bayern would laugh at him, PSG are a basket case. That pretty much accounts for all the teams that can afford to pay him more than Liverpool and are in a position to win something. Maybe Juventus after that, but would they want him? Italy is a graveyard for British players.
No, this is all about whether Sterling wants to go to Arsenal. If he does, good luck getting a regular game and the side won't be much better with him in it (Arsenal need a root and branch overhaul of their backline, not another speedy, lighweight winger). He might fancy City, but they are an old squad and due a slide. It will take time to overhaul that squad as well. If he's dumb enough to go to United after that, well, feck it, who cares in that scenario what he does.
To sum up, Sterling is within his rights to ask for as much as he can get, but he shouldn't have gone public like that. He's also not as good as many think (or he seems to himself), his options aren't as good as he thinks and the club shouldn't be held to ramsom, consequently.
Final, final observation. Rodgers today saying how difficult it is to attract top talent after he spent 20m on Lovren makes me grind my teeth.