Raheem Sterling’s future at Manchester City has been thrown into doubt, despite the club pulling out of the race to try and sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has agreed a sensational return to Manchester United after a whirlwind 24 hours in which he sealed his exit from Juventus.
United have agreed to pay Juventus an initial £12.85million (€15m) with another £6.86m (€8m) in add-ons, with Ronaldo poised to sign a two-year contract at Old Trafford.
Yet his move back to United only came about after the club got wind of City’s approach for the Portuguese forward.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær mobilised Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand, among others, to convince Ronaldo to join United.
That is because, according to reports, City had already agreed a deal in principle with Ronaldo on Thursday evening before they backed out of the transfer a day later.
Pep Guardiola’s side had offered Ronaldo a two-year contract, worth between £12.85m (€15m) and £17.14m (€20m) and all appeared to be running smoothly.
City were yet to strike a bargain with Juventus, who were holding out for £21m (€25m) or Gabriel Jesus as part of a swap deal, according to AS .
City were not willing to part with Jesus, who is the only senior central forward on the club’s books following Sergio Aguero’s departure.
But AS reports that City had offered Sterling to Juventus instead as an attempt to get the transfer over the line before Tuesday’s deadline.
That eventuality never came to pass, as United stepped in and got their man, but it suggests Sterling’s standing at City is in doubt.
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That tallies with what Guardiola said in his press conference on Friday, when asked if any of his players could leave the club in the next few days.
“Right now I don't think so,” he replied.
“Maybe it will happen, but I don't think so. In four days anything can happen.”
City are still in desperate need of a high-profile striker to bolster Guardiola’s squad after they missed out on signing Harry Kane from Tottenham.
Kane was always the Premier League champions’ priority in the summer transfer window, but will be staying at Spurs after Daniel Levy refused to sanction his dream move.
Sterling was involved as part of City’s attempts to land Kane, with reports emerging that they were willing to include the England forward in any deal for his international team-mate.
The 26-year-old is contracted to City until June 2023 and has been a regular in Guardiola’s sides ever since his 2015 transfer from Liverpool.
He contributed 10 goals and seven assists in 31 Premier League appearances last season and started the opening game of the 2021/22 campaign against Tottenham.
