“Quite flattering,” Raheem Sterling said when asked about Arsenal’s interest.
Young and British, boasting speed and skill in similar quantities, it is no surprise his admirers include Arsene Wenger. He fits the template of the locals the Arsenal manager has sought to incorporate into his team during the latter years, when he rediscovered a fondness for English footballers.
Sterling could be a more potent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a fitter upgrade on Theo Walcott. He will be at the Emirates Stadium, but for 90 minutes on Saturday only and in the colours of the visitors. Liverpool have no interest in selling him, even if Sterling was not particularly diplomatic when asked about Arsenal.
Yet a player who tends to scamper around the pitch lingers in a strange kind of limbo. Discussions about a new deal have been put on hold. Sterling has talked this week, but with the BBC, not Liverpool. It was a sign he is losing the PR war in a sorry saga.
“I don’t want to be perceived as the money-grabbing 20 year old, I just want to be perceived as the kid who loves to play football,” he said. “It’s never been about money.”
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It was an attempt to change perceptions. The sense is that he and Liverpool are separated by the small matter of around £50,000 (Dh272,000) per week. The club have offered £100,000. The player wants £150,000. Resolution to an impasse doesn’t appear imminent.
Contract talks have become a thorny issue at Anfield. If the timing of Gerrard’s departure is looking correct, Liverpool mishandled talks with the captain. They are yet to tie down Jordan Henderson, the captain-in-waiting who could leave on a free transfer in 2016.
Sterling’s deal does not expire until 2017, but the speed of his progress means his prowess is not reflected in his current salary. He said he would have signed a new contract if one was offered last summer. It was not.
Yet if there are differing valuations of Sterling, there are also contrasting interpretations of him as a player. He is a rarity, a footballer who alternates between striker and wing-back. Perhaps Brendan Rodgers is the only manager in the world who would deploy such attack-minded players as Sterling, Adam Lallana, Jordon Ibe and Lazar Markovic as wing-backs.
Yet it meant Liverpool’s last game, the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, featured the strange sight of Sterling pushed back so far he was on his own goal line. He was negated as a progressive force.
It appeared all the odder as he had been reinvented as a roaming striker. Yet since Daniel Sturridge’s return, Sterling has found himself as either the fifth defender or the only forward. As the older man has a hip problem, the 20 year old may be pressed into service in attack on Saturday anyway.
Nevertheless, the illogical element is that Rodgers appears unwilling to trust a talent in the role that, in the current shape, may suit him best. Philippe Coutinho has flourished as a No 10, producing the best form of his Liverpool career. The Brazilian may not score enough, but the goals he does get tend to come against elite opposition, including one in December’s draw with Arsenal.
The more pertinent question is if Lallana, dragged off at half time in both meetings with United this season, is a big-game player.
Sterling has shown he can be. He struck twice as a roving winger when Arsenal were demolished 5-1 at Anfield last season. He led United a merry dance as a No 10 in Liverpool’s 3-0 win two months later.
The role as one of the pair behind a centre-forward in Rodgers’ 3-4-2-1 shape would offer some similarities to both. It would give Sterling a chance to show his dynamism in a flair player’s role.
There is a sense of dislocation but if, off the pitch, he should realise he is in the right place, on it, Liverpool are struggling to find Sterling a position he can call home.
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