Man Utd To Make £25m Raheem Sterling Bid But Arsenal Remain In Pole Position

As the opening of the summer transfer window approaches, managers are working hard identifying targets and lining-up potential deals so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Man Utd are ready to open the bidding for Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling…

Manchester United are set to spark a bidding war by making an opening £25m offer for unsettled Liverpool attacker Raheem Sterling but the player is still thought to favour a return to London, according to reports today.

Sterling’s future has come in to question in recent months after he called-off contract extension talks with Liverpool with the players agent Aidy Ward quoted in the press as saying the attacker wouldn’t sign a new deal at Anfield even if he was offered £900,000-a-week.

The uncertainty has led to strong interest both from the Premier League and abroad with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all thought to be keeping a close eye on his situation.

However, it looks like United are ready to make the first move as the Mirror are running an ‘exclusive’ today claiming that the Red Devils are set to open the bidding with a formal £25m offer over the coming days.

The newspaper suggests that despite Liverpool publicly insisting they will make Sterling see-out the remaining two years of his deal, Louis van Gaal is convinced the Merseysiders will cash-in this summer and is attempting to pull off an audacious coup by luring him to Old Trafford.

There is no question that Liverpool will reject United’s bid out of hand as it would take a lot more than £25m to persuade them to sell – particularly to their North West rivals – but the offer is likely to kick-off a bidding war that could drag on for months.

It’s thought that Brendan Rodgers men would reluctantly sell if they were offered somewhere in the region of £40m-£50m with Manchester City understood to be prepared to pay that kind of money, but the Mirror claim that Sterling’s preferred option would be to return to London where he grew up as a child.

Reports earlier this week suggested that Liverpool and Arsenal were in talks over a potential swap deal with the Anfield club demanding Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs in exchange for Sterling. Further reports last month claimed that the 20-year-old would snub any interest from United or City in favour of a move to the Emirates, so the Gunners certainly seem to be in pole position if Sterling does end up leaving Merseyside this summer.

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However, it will be interesting to see what Chelsea have to say about it all. The champions are obviously also based in London and have the finances to compete for Sterling’s signature, so it will come down to whether Jose Mourinho is prepared to pay what it will take to sign the attacker.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming weeks and there’s no doubt United will have to do a lot better than £25m to tempt Liverpool into a sale, but even if they do somehow manage to strike a deal with their fierce rivals, it seems Sterling still has his heart set on moving back to the Capital.