I think there is often some revisionism every time a player is about to leave the club for whatever reason - he's not that good anyway, good riddance, etc. I understand everyone's anger - I am disappointed with Raheem myself - but differently to many here, I think he's a top quality player who we'll struggle to replace. His form was inconsistent this season but that is to be expected with young players; but even so he managed to be the u-21 players with most chances created in Europe. Most of the team was inconsistent as well without the excuse of being that young and played in different positions with different partners nearly every week. Give him proper partners which he can gel with like we did last season and you'll see a star in the making.
He's a natural dribbler like very few players are. His ability to get the ball under pressure and find a way through the opponents is second to none in the league. If he goes to City or Chelsea I don't think we'll see another Shaun Wright-Phillips; rather I believe we'll really regret having let him go while we watch him shine elsewhere.
At the end of the day, if a player doesn't want to play for LFC, then he probably shouldn't. So I do expect him to leave, but only for a really significant sum. And even if on the one hand I may be glad to see a spoilt brat out of the club, on the other it'll be very disappointing to lose someone of Sterling's talents.
I do agree with you, he is quality if inconsistent. If he goes to City or Chelsea, I can't see him starting every game like he does for us, which is the point everyone is making because he has a way to go in his development. In 2 or 3 years time, he will class and walking into these sides.
However, we're not really letting him go, we're trying hard not to let him go. There are a lot of rumours about how much we're offering him and whether we should give him all the money he wants etc. I personally think he made up his mind much earlier in the season that he wants to leave and no matter how much we offer him, he will move to a team with regular CL. That we failed so badly this season to drop out of contention is down to a lot of factors, both the owners and BR have to take a lot of the responsibility for our failures and hence the prospect of losing a quality player.
But to say we're letting him go is not correct. "Losing" him is a better term imo. I'm not blaming him entirely for being ambitious, but I do blame him for the way he has conducted himself. Hence I say we play hardball, force him to stay for one more season and at least get the football out of him, which will be worth far more than a risky transfer window.
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