Chelsea willing to offer Liverpool up to £40m for Sterling

Unsurprisingly, just a couple days after Chelsea captain John Terry had spoken out in support of Raheem Sterling -- Terry does know a thing or two about winning and about being fantastic, yet unfairly treated -- the Blues are back in with supposed interest for Liverpool's want-away.  So far, we've mostly been used as the big bad boogeyman to try to scare more money out of Manchester City.  And that worked for Liverpool when City upped their bid from £25m to £40m.  But now we're in with "real" interest and willingness.

Chelsea are not willing to bid above £40m for Raheem Sterling, according to Sky sources.

Manchester City have tabled two bids for Sterling, the second believed to be around £40m for the Liverpool and England forward. Sky Sports News HQ understands Chelsea are also interested in signing the 20-year-old but are not prepared to meet Liverpool's £50m valuation of the player.

-source: Sky

Since our maximum bid matches City's supposed bid, maybe those two have moved on to more detailed negotiations and we're now being used as leverage in those talks.  Or maybe our interest and willingness to spend the cash on the 20-year-old is real.  There are certainly worse ways to blow £40m, though there are probably better ones, too, ones that don't carry a homegrown tax in addition to the Chelsea tax.