Bad blood with Pep and ‘Not Appreciated’ affected Raheem Sterling’s contract negotiations
2 min readRaheem Sterling’s future at Manchester City has been in the spotlight recently, with his current contract scheduled to expire in June 2023.
According to a report from the Athletic, Raheem Sterling’s agent position influenced his contract negotiations with Manchester City in early 2021.
Despite an uptick in his form over the last month and a half, the England international is still undecided about committing his future to the club, according to the Athletic.
The report suggested that Sterling would have been ‘open’ to a loan move to Barcelona earlier this season.
While a lack of game time in the previous campaign may have played a role in Sterling’s uncertain future, the reasons for his rumored departure have remained a mystery.
As to a published report by the Athletic’s Sam Lee, it is alleged that when the Premier League champions ‘approached’ Raheem Sterling about signing a new deal in March of 2021, the England international was ‘not ready to put pen to paper.
It’s worth noting that Raheem Sterling had only recently split with long-time agent Aidy Ward and, as a result, needed time to get his ‘personal and business affairs in order before considering the possibility of signing a new contract.
According to the article, a source close to the player feels that delaying his commitment at the time was not appreciated by City and that this was one of the reasons he was suddenly dropped from Pep Guardiola’s plans.
The source also revealed that Sterling and Guardiola had a ‘disagreement,’ which was just as likely to have been an “issue’ that contributed to his lack of playing time.
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