However, the 20-year-old, who has been at loggerheads with Liverpool since turning down a new contract earlier this year, now appears set to complete his move to the Etihad Stadium.
Advertisement
City have already had two bids turned down for the England forward, with the last offer lodged in June thought to have been worth around £40m.
City have finally got their man as their earlier bid was rejected by Liverpool.
Sterling, who joined Liverpool’s youth academy from London club QPR in 2010, becomes the most expensive English player in history, breaking a record previously held by Andy Carroll, whose transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool cost £35 million in 2011.
Smith’s tweet would indicate that the deal will now cost City £49-million, just one million short of the price that Liverpool were asking for the midfielder.
Ex- Reds striker Aldridge admitted he was not surprised to see City strike a deal for the 20-year-old.
After telling the club he didn’t wish to travel, Sterling missed two days of training with illness. “The fans have shown him great support, they want him to stay and I believe that he should too”.
Compared to his teammates in Liverpool, he hasn’t been the cleanest and most approachable player and everyone knows how important team chemistry is to building a successful club.
Gerrard told Sky Sports News: “I’m not happy with all that carry-on”. Was met with widespread criticism from ex- Liverpool players, including Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Graeme Souness.
“It looks very disappointing from where I sit”.
“It’ll be a bad shame if he goes somewhere and doesn’t kick on as a player”.
The winger remained behind as Brendan Rodgers and his players departed for Bangkok on their pre-season tour of the south-east Asia and Australia after talks between the clubs reached an advanced stage.
Advertisement
There were reports on Saturday that Liverpool were prepared to put Sterling in the reserves for the coming season rather than take anything less than £50million.
