Dutch dynamo can be Liverpool’s perfect Sterling replacement
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With Raheem Sterling digging his heels in over the amount of money he is paid at Liverpool, the Merseyside scouts have been dispersed to various corners of the continent tasked with finding a more cost-effective option to replace him.
One particular talent-spotter hasn’t necessarily delved too deep into European football to recommend PSV’s Memphis Depay, but could have come up trumps in suggesting the Anfield club purchase the young Dutch star.
Depay has been linked with a move to Manchester United for what seems like most of his 21 years, although reports have emerged that the Reds are willing to battle their biggest rivals for the winger’s signature.
Although it may take a fair chunk of change to do that, with a fee of around £25m being touted by the Daily Express, the Moordrecht native isn’t likely to ask for the kind of eye-watering wage figures that Sterling has set his sights on.
Not only does Depay’s lesser pay packet appeal, but the 15-cap international has also proven himself to be a far better source of goals compared to the England man in their respectively short careers.
While the Dutchman’s reputation in front of goal has soared this season thanks to 26 all-competition goals in 37 appearances for the Eredivisie champions, Sterling has listened to accusations of wastefulness grow louder as the campaign has progressed.
The former Queens Park Rangers youth has managed just 11 strikes in 45 appearances for the 13/2 top-four hopefuls this term, despite being used as the side’s central striker for a bulk of those games.
Should the Merseyside outfit manage to get £50m for Sterling from Juventus, as has been reported elsewhere on the gossip trail recently, then re-investing half of that bounty on the Dutchman would be an extremely shrewd move.
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