Rumour Mongering: Raheem Sterling Favours Liverpool Move

Raheem Sterling has seen his role reduced at Manchester City over the past year and as a result of that there were rumours that the 26-year-old winger wanted out last summer. In the end, no move materialized.

With his role remaining limited so far this season, though, there are fresh rumours that the England international could be moving on in January, with Barcelona in particular said to be interested according to outlets in Spain.

However, according to Catalonia’s El Nacional, if Sterling had his way he would be returning to Liverpool in January to re-join the club he left in 2015 in a £50M deal. Unsurprisingly, City are said not to be fond of that idea.

City’s preference would be to keep the player, but if he is to be sold the club are unlikely to consider Sterling—whose current contract runs through the summer of 2023—to join a rival for the Premier League title.

So far this season, Sterling has made 15 total for Manchester’s Citizens, though he has only made three starts in the league and one in Europe—and two of the four times he’s gone 90 minutes were in the League Cup.

In the Premier League and Europe, he’s played 520 minutes in 13 appearances, an average of 40 minutes per appearance, reinforcing the idea that at this stage Pep Guardiola sees him primarily as a bench options.

It’s worth noting, perhaps, that if minutes are behind Sterling’s desire to move on, his path to playing time would be just as congested if he re-joined the Reds and that he would likely play more often playing at Barcelona.