Relaxed. Brendan Rodgers used the word repeatedly as he sought to defuse controversy from Raheem Sterling’s opportunistic interview with the BBC and, with over two years remaining on the player’s current contract and a wealth of Luis Suárez-inspired experience to call on, well he might. Only this is different. Liverpool, their manager and owners, Fenway Sports Group, have not faced such a fresh-faced challenge to their collective authority before.
True, the club has suffered more damaging losses from its playing ranks than Sterling would represent should his contract remain unsigned and his agent, Aidy Ward, orchestrate a transfer that breaks Liverpool’s resolve not to sell the England international this summer. Suárez was the last and two summers fighting the Uruguay international’s desire to leave Anfield, albeit only one successfully, have schooled Rodgers in the tactics behind a forced transfer, unexpected interviews included. But, again, this is different.
Suárez was a South American star at the peak of his powers when he fulfilled a long-held ambition to move to Spain last summer. Sterling, Jamaica-born, London-raised and of rich potential, but only potential, embodies something else. He represents Liverpool’s long-term plan for competing with the financial might of their Premier League rivals, of constructing a team that can secure Champions League football on a regular basis, thereby enticing and keeping better talent and, as the 20-year-old wants for his own career, to win trophies. To lose him at this juncture would not shatter Liverpool – especially if Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City were prepared to pay in the region of £50m – but it would place in doubt FSG’s and Rodgers’ entire strategy for Liverpool.
“If Raheem has said his ambition is to win trophies and be successful,” said the Liverpool manager on Thursday, “then it’s perfectly aligned with what we’re trying to do.”
Rodgers knew when he accepted the invitation to replace Kenny Dalglish in 2012 that, given time, he would have to manage the end of Jamie Carragher’s and Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool careers. He did not sign up for a project in which the brightest hopes, the intended next generation, would be flattered at the thought of playing for Arsenal before their 21st birthday and considering a better payday elsewhere.
As with Suárez, FSG would reinvest the proceeds of any Sterling transfer in Rodgers’ squad but, as with Suárez, the returns may not compensate or new players might require time that Liverpool do not possess as they attempt to return to the Champions League. As the club has also discovered, losing its finest assets on a regular basis – Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres included – becomes self-defeating and deflating to those, such as Rodgers, charged with the task of returning silverware to Anfield.
Sterling admitted to the BBC that last summer’s departure of Suárez and the imminent exit of Gerrard had left a “little dent” at Liverpool. They can ill-afford the dent to get deeper. Rodgers requires Sterling to fill the void created by Suárez and Gerrard on the pitch. Off it, Liverpool need a marketable asset to plug the gap and their increasing number of commercial tie-ins. No offence, but Martin Skrtel isn’t going to shift many Nivea products. All of which, of course, Sterling’s representative Ward is well aware of as he advises his client to reject a five-year, £100,000-a-week contract from Liverpool and see what other offers materialise this summer.
FSG’s strategy for Liverpool involves patience, the development of young talent and by extension a team, plus incentivised contracts that come under increased scrutiny when the likes of Sterling and the vice-captain Jordan Henderson are reluctant to commit. Sterling’s insistence that the desire to win silverware “at the highest level” is behind his contract impasse, not money, exposes the inherent risk in the owners’ approach. Liverpool’s desire for the same thing is why Rodgers is adamant Sterling will not be sold this summer.
As he said: “I’m quite relaxed on it. It’s part of the modern game. People who look after players and represent them have different ways of working. I’ve seen that over the years in football. Our focus is on the football. Raheem has been involved with first team for two and a half years and the player he is today – and he still has a lot of improvements to make – is because of the environment and what we’ve created here. He’s still got learning and development to make on and off the pitch. We feel this is a great place for him. I’m quite relaxed.”
