Depreciation of Sterling

There lots of things one can be doing at the age of 17 (although there are a lot more added to that list when you turn 18) but playing in the Premier League is rarely one of them.

Still, that hasn’t stopped Raheem Sterling from trying to convince the world that he has a right to be getting some good senior, first team action at Liverpool. And he is prepared to go somewhere else to do it, proclaims the Mirror. Or, well, his mother is.

Nadine Sterling is pushing for young Raheem to return to London with Tottenham reportedly monitoring the situation. Sterling moved to Liverpool from QPR back in 2010 for a fee of £600,000 (rising to £5m with all the extra T&Cs) with his family relocating to Walton as a result of the move.

However, the Mirror says Sterling’s mother has grown frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities at Anfield  for her son and his lack of progress to the first team, with more defensive-minded players such as Jon Flanagan, Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson getting their debuts already. Mind you, they were all older when they made their debuts than Sterling is now so, food for thought maybe.

However, the England under 18 striker/winger has had numerous loan deals offered to him according to the Mirror from clubs based in the Premier League, Championship and League One but all have been turned down by Liverpool, thus exacerbating Sterling’s woes. Despite a handful of appearances in friendlies for Liverpool and being widely regarded as the hottest property in the Liverpool academy, the teenager has yet to feature in a competitive match for the club.

A third club by the age of 17 for a player would be unprecedented with fellow professionals like Ryan Giggs and Jamie Carragher, for example, spending all of their careers at one club. Different generations and all that I guess

For more Football Blogs and opinion from football fans around the world