Arsenal & Man Utd On Alert As City Launch £30m Bid For Raheem Sterling

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, Manchester City make their move for Raheem Sterling…

Manchester City have made the first move for want-away attacker Raheem Sterling after making a £30m offer following talks with Liverpool, according to reports.

Sterling’s future at Anfield is in serious doubt after he broke off contract talks with his agent Aidy Ward quoted as telling the newspapers last month that his client wouldn’t sign a new deal at Liverpool – even if he was offered £900,000-a-week.

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

Reports last week claimed that Sterling was open to the idea of linking-up with Louis van Gaal but was concerned about the backlash he’d received from Liverpool fans if he were to make the controversial move to Old Trafford.

Other reports suggest that Arsenal are in pole position as the 20-year-old is understood to favour a move back to London where he grew up as a child and there’s been talk of a potential swap deal involving Theo Walcott.

However, it looks like Manchester City have made the first official move with the Mirror claiming that the Citizens have made a verbal offer worth a total of £30m following talks with the Merseysiders on Friday.

The newspaper suggests that City have made it clear to the Reds they’ll follow that up with written confirmation of the offer, which would see Manuel Pellegrini’s side pay £25m up front with a further £5m in odd ons.

Liverpool are expected to reject the offer out-of-hand and hold out for a much larger fee but City’s move is sure to alert the likes of Arsenal and United – who’ll be watching developments closely as the race for one of Europe’s best young talents hots-up.

Brendan Rodgers has insisted publicly that they are prepared to force Sterling to see-out the final two years of his contract but their resolve is going to be severely tested over the coming weeks as clubs step-up their interest in the England international.

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I’d personally be shocked if Liverpool even contemplated selling to United given their fierce rivalry and much will come down to whether the player really wants to return to London, or if he’s using that as an excuse to force a way out of Anfield.

As it stands, Arsenal and City seem to be leading the way but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea still had a say in the matter. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how it all pans out over the coming weeks and it’s almost impossible to predict where Sterling will be playing next season.