Sterling has rejected a second contract offer from Liverpool.

[tony]

From the Grauniad

Steven Gerrard has warned Liverpool to secure new long-term contracts for Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson “before it is too late” and admitted being worried by the delay in agreeing terms with the England pair.
Liverpool have been in contract negotiations with representatives of Sterling and Henderson for several months, with their current deals due to expire in 2017 and 2016 respectively. Ian Ayre, the club’s chief executive, held another round of talks over Sterling’s contract at the beginning of January but, despite suggestions a deal was close, the 20-year-old has not put pen to paper one month on.
The Sterling negotiations have been accompanied by reports the forward is unhappy with the terms on offer, although one complicating factor is that the player’s agent, Aidy Ward, is in the process of leaving his current employer Impact Sports Management to start his own company. Gerrard, however, claims “there is no smoke without fire” and has also voiced concern that his potential successor as Liverpool captain, Henderson, has been allowed to enter the final 17 months of his current contract.
Gerrard said: “They need to sign him [Sterling] now. He knows what I want him to do. Not just him, Jordan Henderson as well. When I was coming through at Liverpool, every time you got within a couple of years left your contract would be renewed and there would no worrying or panic stage, but I see Henderson with a year left and I see Sterling – it is in the paper too much and I know there is no smoke without fire.
“So, for me, the message to the club is to get these done sharpish because these are the future of the club and I want to watch this team do well, in cup finals and challenging for the league. Those players, Sterling, Henderson – [Philippe] Coutinho and [Daniel] Sturridge who just signed up – they are the ones who are going to deliver, so it’s vital they get them done before it is too late.”

Ffs its Hendo as well, what is the matter with the club - have they learned nothing from Oven and Mcmoneyman. It comes to something when the club captain has to speak up about this - what a ridiculous situation.

 

[Judge Jules]

This shows the damage which can be caused by making a poor appointment to the top job, something which the club has suffered from for decades now. Parry's p!$$ing about was what drove Stevie himself to the brink of leaving back in the day, and we've now got Ayre looking as though he's having an uncomfortably similar effect. FSG need to match our on-field progress with spiffing up our off-the-field operations.

 

[Hansern]

Yep, if we dont tie up these two to new deals then I give up.
Dont think either of them want to leave but its dragging on.

 

[Sherman]

Give Sterling what he wants. Doesn't get more complicated than that.

 

[gkmacca]

The impression you get is that there's no one actually at the club, rather than in Boston, who is able to make decisions. It's alarming.

 

[Rosco]

It's just as well it was all confirmed as unsubstantiated nonsense on the first page of this thread

 

[MaBigTip]

This will be devastating if we lose Sterling and Hendo. I don't thin Hendo will think he can better elsewhere. Sterling will know he can.

 

[Oncy]

Hes going to leave.
You can almost smell it.

 

[Hansern]

Nah, I dont think he'll leave. But his representatives are pushing hard for a massive contract.
Hopefully the lad has some sense.
Talksport is saying he's not signing. Which is like asking a tramp outside Anfield about his opinion.

If it comes to that point that he doesnt sign, then those in charge should be out of a job quickly.

 

[ILD]

Henderson will sign. I think he's great but where would he go? He's vice captain so presumably using that as a bit of leverage to get a better deal.

 

[jexykrodic]

I thought he had a couple of years left on his contract?

 

[gkmacca]

Hendo will sign if he's offered £10 and five years' supply of hair gel.

 

[Dirkus_Circus]

If Sterlo leaves I'm done with fútbol.

 

[Hansern]

I thought he had a couple of years left on his contract?

2,5 years. Even though the last contract discussions 2012 took ages, there is a delay due to his agent moving to another firm and only Talksport guessing he wont sign - some are panicing.

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

So fucking what if he doesn't sign.
If he does ,he does. If he doesn't then two things:
a) He's a massive cunt, and
b) We get another player in no biggie.
He's good, but since Torres left (which I thought was the end of the world) I couldn't give two shits if a player stays or goes.

 

[keniget]

I think they'll both sign new deals in the end but it's weird that we keep finding ourselves in this position. Is it one of those things where every clubs fans think their club is shit or really just us? Why has Henderson's contract been allowed to run down? Why is Gerrard talking about it in the media as opposed to the club just sorting it out?

 

[peekay]

Brendan Rodgers has warned Raheem Sterling’s advisers that Liverpool will not be held to ransom over a new contract and fears an excessive salary could jeopardise the player’s future.

The Liverpool manager claimed Sterling, who should figure in Tuesday night’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, has been offered “an incredible deal” for a 20-year-old, one that rewards his development into the team’s finest player this season, and gave the clearest illustration so far that the protracted contract saga stems from a failure to agree terms with the forward’s agent, Aidy Ward. Ward is currently in the process of leaving Impact Sports Management to start his own company but, while that has complicated finalising a deal, Rodgers stressed Liverpool will not bow to the demands of any player.

Sterling is under contract at Anfield until 2017 and has yet to sign a new deal despite negotiations opening in October. The club captain, Steven Gerrard, last week urged Liverpool to agree terms with both Sterling and Jordan Henderson “before it is too late”, with the latter’s current deal due to expire in 2016.
Rodgers said: “Steven is relaying a message that the club obviously wants as well. Both players are very, very important for the future and the club recognise that and I only hope as the manager that it will be resolved very soon.

“What the club has offered is an incredible deal for a young player. I have spoken to Raheem a number of times. He is very happy here and you see that in his game. What he has been granted at this football club is an opportunity. We see that with lots of young players they are getting the opportunity to play here and they get rewarded for that.

“But we are certainly not a club that is going to give out way, way above what a player is worth at a certain time of his career. It is not a case of giving any player, and I am talking generally here rather than just Raheem, what they want. We want to reward our best talents, they are a big part of our future and we are confident that will all be in hand and resolved soon.”

As was the case before Sterling signed his current five-year deal in 2012, and applies to all youngsters at the club, the Liverpool manager believes there must be incentive for a player to develop in his contract.

“For me in general, and not just about Raheem, it is very important that young players have something to strive for,” Rodgers said. “If they get too much too young then it can really sabotage their development. That is obviously the job of the football club and why we communicate a lot with the players and their advisers. If they are given sound advice and good advice they will see that because it is about mapping out the career of a young player, it is not just this deal.

“In Raheem’s case he has been outstanding since we put him in the team but we mustn’t forget this was a 17-year-old boy who was given an opportunity at Liverpool. In the two and half years since he has been introduced into the squad he has been fantastic but he still has a long way to go.

“He still has bit to do in his development and we believe this will be the best place for him and I believe he knows that as well. It is important that you reward and for him his value and worth is very important for us, but also that you leave something for them to progress on to the next level and that is the same for all young players, not just Raheem.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/09/liverpool-raheem-sterling-brendan-rodgers

 

[Rosco]

Those comments are slightly worrying from Rodgers

 

[keniget]

Those comments are slightly worrying from Rodgers

Yeah, it's a shame it ends up having to be played out in the media.

I wonder what Sterling is after.

 

[Hansern]

Didnt his agents play this exact game in 2012 aswell?

 

[Rosco]

Yeah, it's a shame it ends up having to be played out in the media.

I wonder what Sterling is after.

So do I, is he after Rooney money?

But i don't like the qualification that is an incredible deal for a ' young player '.

 

[peterhague]

Apparently the club is offering £70k and I'd imagine Sterling is after something like £120k, which would put him alongside the top earners - which you could make a case for, I suppose. I'd have thought he'll end up signing for about £100k.

He's been like this before, hasn't he? Making demands via the media etc. I remember some nonsense about him leaving a few years ago unless he got his break in the first team. So in that sense all this is to be expected.

Still, the club could probably do worse than signing up someone like Patrick Roberts at Fulham just in case Sterling needs to be replaced in a couple of years.

 

[cloggypop]

Hendo is gonna be the big summer signing!

 

[FoxForceFive]

I assume the club are looking at Stevie leaving, & instead of doing what fans assume (thinking, yay, we have 150k a week to spend on players wages) are thinking that they can reduce the overall wage structure & limit the amount of players on 100k.

Whist when looking at the player as an asset it makes perfect sense to simply give him 120k (the age meaning his value increases & the sums involved in selling players meaning the extra 20k a week is negligible long term), there's the issue of increasing wages for other players when renegotiating contracts in line with that & creating a high bar for new big reputation players to aim at when negotiating too.

 

[red_maradona]

what's the goss on merseyside about him and the contract offer?

 

[hmmmmm1]

Balo is on 90k and he is shite, sterling is worth it

 

[Markeh]

I think they'll both sign new deals in the end but it's weird that we keep finding ourselves in this position. Is it one of those things where every clubs fans think their club is shit or really just us? Why has Henderson's contract been allowed to run down? Why is Gerrard talking about it in the media as opposed to the club just sorting it out?

Every clubs fans have issues with how their side negotiates I reckon - Pogba, Ings, Lampard, Sturridge.

The oil money clubs and United probably give less of a shite over being held to ransom though - Rooney, Toure (every year).

 

[Jack D Rips]

Modern day football really pisses me off. He's just two years into a contract that was hailed as him committing his long term future to the club. Not even half way for fuck sake

 

[Red Mullet]

Does 'incredible' = 'outstanding' in Rodgers speak?

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

As I've mentioned previously, signing up Coutinho was crucial given that the negotiations here haven't been smooth. With Markovic, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge all signed up till at least 2019, we should not be caught out too badly should things really look hopeless and we're compelled to sell him in the summer. Gerrard's and Aldridge's statements about needing to sign Sterling aren't helping the club as it puts the weight of inking the deal (or the blame for the delay) all on the club; Carra has come out against Sterling's agent(s) before that though.

There's another important deal to be done (arguably more important if we can't break the impasse with Sterling's camp soon) and that's the contract for Ibe. If I'm not wrong, he signed his first professional contract with us around the end of 2012. If it's a 4.5-year deal, it will run out at the same time as Sterling's. Hope we aren't taking our eye off this one, as he's another one of those to add to the list who can help cushion Sterling's departure (if it happens).