Raheem Sterling has been at the centre of a sensational transfer saga for longer than I can remember. It has just been going on and on, twisting and turning. But where the majority of the criticism has been thrown at Sterling I am starting to think that it is really his agent who should be bearing the brunt of the abuse.

Sterling is managed by a man called Aidy Ward and it is his recent comments which may have inflamed the situation beyond repair. Ward decided to give an interview with a national newspaper and allegedly confirmed that his client would not be signing a contract renewal with Liverpool even if they were to offer the young man ridiculous sums of money. This shocking admission came just days before the pair were due to meet with the club but unsurprisingly the meeting was cancelled. Liverpool felt the comments indicated a severe roadblock in negotiations and therefore didn’t see the point in discussions. Ward has been backtracking on his comments ever since.

When a footballer is able to perform maturely and consistently in front of tens of thousands of demanding football fans week in and week out it is easy to forget that many of them are very young men. Sterling himself is only 20-years-old and most of us who are older than that would find it hard to deal with the pressures weighing on his shoulders. That said we’d also probably not turn down 100k a week! But Sterling, like most players, has supporters and advisors who are telling him how exceptional he is and unlike his ex-captain Steven Gerrard he is truly believing the hype and putting that before everything else.

Liverpool have hardly helped the situation by publically exposing their contract dealings midway through what was quite a challenging season. The relationship between Sterling, Liverpool and their supporters diminished so much that the winger was left out of the final game of the season. Already having missed out on Champions League football and an FA Cup final the Reds needed to at least make their last game a good one. Unfortunately Liverpool were battered 6-1 by Stoke City meaning that Gerrard ended his 17 senior years at Liverpool with his heaviest ever league defeat.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that there are no bad feelings and that Sterling will honour the final two years of his contract. That does sound improbable and is likely the Irishman’s attempt to maybe hold onto the player for one more season while the club look at alternatives.

Sterling is of course at fault but it is blatantly obvious that he is being ill advised. If he does stay this summer then the transfer rumours are sure to persist, too much has happened for everyone, including the media, to just forget. The fact that Europa League football is the highest that they could achieve for next season has probably pushed Sterling closer to the exit and with a few suitors able to provide Europe’s top tournament I wouldn’t be surprised if he does end up in North or West London. But that would be rewarding the bad behaviour of both Sterling and his agent so maybe another miserable, unsatisfied year on Merseyside is exactly what they deserve.

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