Why Raheem Sterling will never sign for Manchester United
Published:
The papers are plastered with stories linking wantaway Liverpool ace Raheem Sterling to a £25m switch to Manchester United this morning.
According to reports, Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal is keen to capitalise on the youngster’s contract stance and feels his bid could secure the England man’s talents.
However, the betting suggests United have only a remote possibility of capturing Sterling and instead it is thought that the Old Trafford club’s interest will only serve to start a transfer war between Manchester City and Real Madrid.
At present Los Blancos are the favourites to win the race, with Sterling priced at 5/2 to be unveiled at the Bernabeu before the new season.
City can be backed at 7/2 to land their man, while it’s 13/8 that he remains at Anfield.
United may have moved first in offering a bid but even at 14/1 only a single bet of £1 has been taken by Ladbrokes and a quick look at the transfer history between the two clubs shows why.
While it’s true some modern era players have turned out for both sides – notably Paul Ince, Peter Beardsley and Michael Owen – no player has made a direct switch since Phil Chisnall in 1964.
In fact the last time a Liverpool player left the Reds to play for United was back in 1938 and not since 1920 have Liverpool sold a player to their rivals for financial gain.
The most recent attempt at business between the two clubs was back in 2007 when Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze expressed a desire to leave Old Trafford for Anfield.
United refused to do business, insisting that if the left back was to leave it would be to a foreign club or nowhere regardless of how much Liverpool offered.
That alone is enough to see Brendan Rodgers staunchly refuse to sell to Van Gaal and with plenty of other clubs interested in Sterling there is little reason for the Reds boss to feel the wrath of the Anfield masses.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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