This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

According to The Metro, Manchester City are planning on entering into talks with Raheem Sterling over signing a new contract at the club.

What's the word?

The England international has enjoyed a remarkable period at the Etihad, scoring 25 goals and providing a further 18 assists across all competitions last season.

His start to the current campaign has been similarly prolific, netting nine times in 11 games. His impressive run of form saw him earn a three-year contract extension with City just last November, with reports suggesting he would be earning up to £300k-a-week.

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Despite this, The Metro claim Pep Guardiola's side are intent on ensuring the forward doesn't come close to the end of his contract again and thus seeing his value decrease, particularly after he publicly admitted he would like to play abroad.

The report adds City are hoping to sit down with Sterling's representatives in the New Year to discuss a new deal that would reflect the run of form he has been on since he signed his last contract.

Complacency

Make no mistake about it, the idea behind wanting to reward players for a good run of form, and tying them down to a longer deal is understandable. But City's reported intentions regarding Sterling only threatens to open up a can of worms they don't want.

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The 24-year-old has been in quite impressive form for the club, and has developed into one of the world's most feared forwards under Guardiola's guidance. Former players have even insisted he can be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar - high praise indeed.

But giving him a new contract just a year after he signed his last one? Complacency is a key word when it comes to footballers and what they can manage to get out of their careers. The sport has been filled with promising individuals who have let themselves down by getting ahead of themselves, and forgetting to work hard. The risk City would take with their reported plans is that Sterling loses sight of what's most important - success on the pitch.

Why take such an unnecessary gamble? His existing deal ties him down until 2023, and until perhaps the summer of 2021, or even later, no talk of contracts should even be entering into the conversation. Do so, and they risk it backfiring spectacularly.