Forget Suarez, Liverpool Should Shield This Teenage Rising Star From La Liga Clubs

When Real Madrid cast their giant shadow on a player, you know what’s coming! Usually it’s a bid that you cannot turn down followed by exorbitant wages that the player gets attracted to. Madrid recently did the same with World Cup golden boot winner James Rodriguez. The 23-year old was signed for close to  €80m, that made him the 4th most expensive signing in the history of football! His wages are close to €8m-a-year, which is pretty high for a 23-year old.

Recently, there were persistent rumours about Raheem Sterling being Carlo Ancelotti’s top priority signing. While the rumours weren’t solid, you wouldn’t be surprised if they do go ahead and prize away the 19-year old from Liverpool.

Liverpool have never been able to shield their players from Madrid; it started with Steve Mcmanaman, then Michael Owen, and more recently, the sales of Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa. So the signs are definitely ominous. And what is key here are the paltry wages of Raheem Sterling. Do not get me wrong,  paying £30,000 a week to a 19-year old is massive, but such is the power of buying these days that clubs often end up paying more to players to keep them for a longer period of time.

Rodgers said recently, “When you reward young players too quickly – Raheem’s still only 19 – you give them too much too early and that will be their downfall. It’s a big problem because they lose their hunger.” You cannot argue against the statement, but you will definitely see the same Brendan Rodgers hustling to tie down Sterling to a new lucrative deal because you don’t want to lose top player for peanuts. How often will you see a Ballon d’Or winner being sold for £8m (Owen was sold since he was in the final year of his contract)?

Sterling was on £2000-a-week before being offered a senior contract in 2012 that increased his wages by £28,000. Yes, a big jump. He still has just over 3 years remaining on his contract, which makes it roughly £4.5m remaining on his contract. Hardly an obstacle for Madrid. So, in case Liverpool manage to extend his contract, it’ll just be getting more money, because the spending power of Madrid has been well illustrated in the last decade or so.  However, what’s important here is whether Sterling will make the switch or not. The presence of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco, Jese Rodriguez and James Rodriguez might make Sterling think before he decides on anything.