Raheem Sterling Wants Liverpool Transfer Because Of Brendan Rodgers, Would Stay If He Was Sacked

Raheem Sterling reportedly only wants to leave Liverpool because of Brendan Rodgers, and if the Northern Irishman was sacked, Sterling would be willing to stay.

The Mirror reported that relations between Sterling and Rodgers have become so bad that the England international refuses to kick a ball for Liverpool again while Rodgers is in charge.

Sterling was due to return to summer training for Liverpool on Wednesday. However he is believed to have called in sick, while it’s also been predicted that he won’t arrive in to work on Thursday too.

More alarmingly for both Liverpool and Sterling’s reputation is that the club’s pre-season tour is also imminent, and it’s been widely reported that Sterling has refused to travel with Liverpool because of his breakdown with the club over the last few months.

This hasn’t stopped Brendan Rodgers from trying to convince Sterling to stay at Anfield though. In fact, the pair are believed to have held a meeting on Wednesday where Rodgers made it clear that he wants Sterling to stay.

Over the course of the last season, Raheem Sterling found himself in a contract dispute with Liverpool. Liverpool fans insist that he was simply being greedy and trying to get as much money as possible out of the club, while Sterling was adamant that he was only interested in playing for a club where he would win trophies.

Either way, Sterling rejected Liverpool’s contract offer, and then made it clear that he wanted to leave. Manchester City have spent the summer transfer window making incrementally larger bids for the player, and their latest offer was in the region of £40 million ($60 million). Liverpool don’t want to sell Sterling to their rivals though.

Meanwhile, Rodgers’ future at Liverpool has been far from secure over the last few months. After leading them to a second place finish in the 2013/2014 season, Rodgers and Liverpool struggled massively in 2014/2015 as they ended up finishing in sixth place.

Many Liverpool fans have called for Rodgers to be sacked, especially as their campaign came to an embarrassing end with a 6-1 defeat to Stoke City on the last day of the season. They believe that former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp would be an ideal replacement for Rodgers, who has spent over $200 million since he was hired.

Things have also turned nasty between Sterling and Liverpool’s supporters over the last few weeks. On Wednesday a group of fans turned up outside the player’s house, while his mobile number was posted online and Sterling was soon inundated with over 3,000 messages, most of which were abusive.

[Image via Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]