LONDON, (Reuters) – Raheem Sterling’s agent has fuelled the fire surrounding the player’s contract standoff with Liverpool by saying the England winger would not sign a new deal at Anfield – even for 900,000 pounds ($1.41 million) a week.
The 20-year-old has developed a reputation as one of England’s brightest young prospects, but has been at the centre of media frenzy in recent months surrounding his contract negotiations.
The player and his agent, Aidy Ward, are set for a showdown with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and chief executive Ian Ayre today when Sterling is expected to tell the club he wants to leave.
“He is definitely not signing,” Ward told the Evening Standard.
“He’s not signing for 700, 800, 900 thousand pounds a week. He is not signing.”
Sterling, who was given his Premier League break by Liverpool and shone as they launched an unexpected title challenge last season, has come in for criticism from many former Anfield greats.
The player’s relationship with the club and fans has also deteriorated since he gave an unauthorised interview to the BBC when he denied being a “money-grabber” and claimed he was motivated purely by ambition.
The interview was widely interpreted as a PR disaster and prompted many pundits to round on Ward for mishandling a delicate situation and giving poor advice to his client.
Ward has hit back, however, aiming a personal insult at former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, before dismissing the media backlash as little more than background noise.
“My job is to make sure I do the best with them (my clients). If people say I am bad at my job, or they are badly advised it does not matter,” he said.
