Liverpool have a serious mess on their hands regarding Raheem Sterling.
The player, who is at the centre of increasingly difficult contract negotiations, has given boss Brendan Rodgers further headaches recently with his off-field activity.
Tabloids have honed in on Sterling since he publicly rejected a new deal of £100,000 a week and he appears to have been caught up in multiple controversies in recent weeks.
With the situation around Sterling apparently going into meltdown, Rodgers and the club must act now for the purposes of damage limitation.
Similarly they must tie down Sterling’s promising team-mate, Jordan Ibe, to a new deal in order to stop history repeating itself.
Ibe has also become involved in some of the recent unwanted headlines, appearing on, as Brendan Rodgers reminds us, the wrong side of the newspapers.
Like Sterling, the wideman is currently on a deal which expires in 2017.
However, the 19-year-old is some way behind his team-mate in terms of development and consequently does not yet represent such a valuable commodity. His contract renewal should not be any less urgent a priority for the Reds though.
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The Anfield side allowed Sterling to terrorise defences and gain a formidable reputation as one of Europe’s best young attackers without taking action to secure his services long term.
Now they find themselves under pressure, financially from the player and his representatives but also from rival clubs as the time on his current deal ticks down.
As soon as the 20-year-old began to sparkle in the Premier League, Liverpool should have moved with a contract extension. However, they failed to obtain the signature and now circumstances are heading out of control.
The Reds may still be able to resolve the matter but it will cost them substantially more than if they had acted a year ago.
With Ibe it seems lessons might have been learned. The young winger is on the verge of a comeback from injury and reports on Merseyside are suggesting a new contract offer could coincide with his return to action.
The deal would be a fraction of the figures quoted in the Sterling furore but would represent a significant increase for Ibe.
If he signs, the former Wycombe teenager would be committed to Liverpool for a further five years. Having shown great promise during his side’s unbeaten run early in the year, he represents the club’s next big financial asset so it makes perfect sense to invest in him now.
Sterling meanwhile is till performing well on the field but is rumoured to be of interest to Manchester City among others and Liverpool may struggle to keep him if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers may be forced to cash in on the player, but regardless of whether Sterling stays or goes it is clear the manager has a difficult task in keeping his young stars off the front pages between now and the end of the season.
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