Manuel Pellegrini is under no illusions. Raheem Sterling and the other best young, English players don’t come cheap.
Pellegrini said Monday that Manchester City would have to pay £100 million ($150 million) to buy Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, according to the Mail and the Liverpool Echo. Pellegrini was explaining the difficulty of adding more English players to Manchester City’s star-studded squad when he slapped the high price tag on Sterling.
“It is important to have English players but can you sign them?,” Pellegrini rhetorically asked. “You are talking about trying to sign players from clubs that won’t sell them. Let’s say you want to buy (Luke) Shaw: £35 million ($52 million) for a left back. I’m not sure about spending that much money when we have (Gael) Clichy and (Aleksandar) Kolarov.
“Can you get Sterling? Maybe if you go to Liverpool with £100 million ($150 million) you can. If I want an English player in the position of (David) Silva who is there? Maybe (Wayne) Rooney, but who else?”
While Pellegrini wasn’t negotiating in public in this instance, it still is strange for a potential buyer to quote such a high price for another team’s player. That is, if Manchester City even has the interest, financial wiggle room and nous required to tempt Liverpool into selling its prized asset.
Negotiations between Sterling and Liverpool on a new, long-term contract have dragged on for months, but the 20-year-old likely won’t become the subject of serious transfer interest for at least another 18 months.
Sterling will continue to develop and perform well at Liverpool. Pundits, fans and amateur market makers will haggle over his potential transfer fee and they should use Pellegrini’s price quote as a starting point for Sterling, who perhaps is the best young player in England, Europe and beyond.
Thumbnail photo via LiverpoolFC.com
