Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers does not want Liverpool to bow down to agent demands when offering youngster Raheem Sterling a new deal.

Sterling turned 18 yesterday and is in the process of being offered a new long term contract at Liverpool, but reports this week suggested that the two parties could not agree on a wage.

Sterling broke on to the scene at Anfield this season under Rodgers, who has given plenty of youngsters a chance in various competitions, and his individual performances have seen him quickly become a fans favourite.

The 18-year-old joined the club from Queens Park Rangers as a youngster but is now a key member of the Liverpool squad, who travel to Upton Park today to face West Ham.

Rodgers however is not comfortable with the current prices being bounded about for young English talent in modern day football and is hopeful the same will not happen with Sterling.

"I don't want the club or the kid being affected by over-the-odds demands.” Rodgers told The Telegraph.

"I think there's a value I see in a young player that hasn't achieved anything. All the figures that get bandied about for kids these days can destroy them.

“I'm in the business of trying to help nurture these kids, and money distorts the reality. It's just one of these things that will get done. I'm confident that it will do.

"There's still 18 months left [on his current deal]. He's a young kid and we just want to make sure that everything's right for him to be nurtured.

"With young players, contracts get handed out left, right and centre to a kid who's not done anything, getting a four-year deal on decent money, and then clubs wonder why in two or three years it's gone wrong.

"It's gone wrong because you've taken away his hunger."