Sterling wants out of Liverpool, wants to win more trophies, not more money

Raheem Sterling has been stalling on a new contract at Anfield, and on Monday, news leaked that he's definitely looking to move on this summer. The spin then got rolling with some explanation of the desire to move, making sure that fans know that it's not all about the money.

That spin didn't phase Jamie Carragher, who was quite critical of his former teammate and his representatives:

Personally, I could not care less about Sterling's reasoning for wanting a move. I've always been in favor of players being given as much control over their future as possible, and if Sterling doesn't want to be at Liverpool anymore, than I'd hope he eventually gets his way. The idea Carragher is endorsing that he shouldn't "take on" his current employer is ridiculous...if the player wants to leave, he shouldn't be feeling pressure from the media to sign a new contract with his current employer. The fact that Sterling is only 20 shouldn't play into his thinking one way or the other either, as the ex-Red seems to be suggesting. No doubt, if Jaime wasn't happy at Sky, he'd be doing much the same, despite the fact that's he's still new to punditry.

That said, Sterling is currently under contract with Liverpool, and if he's really unhappy enough with the situation, there are avenues he can take to buy out the last year of his deal. If it doesn't come to that, I'll find it very difficult to become too fussed if Liverpool decide to force him to honor that deal, and then watch him walk away for a nominal fee. That's their right, after all, even if it would be silly.

Regardless, if I'm on the Chelsea board, I'm putting in a call about Sterling's availability soon*. He's a good enough player to push Willian for minutes on the right, and his newfound ability to operate centrally in a pinch could be useful for Jose Mourinho. He's also homegrown (and currently U21), which would be a big boost for the Blues. It would likely take an awfully big bid to convince FSG to sell, but we seem to have a decent working relationship with Liverpool at the moment, even if the two sets of fans don't much care for the other club.

*I found the note Carragher made about Sterling wanting a return to London quite interesting

While Sterling isn't the same sort of world class player right now that someone like Gareth Bale or Paul Pogba is, he'd certainly be right up near the top of my shopping list with that pair. This summer should be fun.