Raheem Sterling was Manchester City’s star performer in their title triumph last season and there is bound to be talks regarding a renewed, better contract for the English international. However, there are doubts over Sterling getting a better pay, as his performances in the World Cup weren’t satisfactory, according to reports.
Sterling’s entourage had begun negotiations over their client’s contract renewal some time ago. Their general belief was that a strong showing in the World Cup would strengthen his stance and would get him in a stronger position during the negotiations. They plan to make him one of the top earners in the league along with Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne. The news reports state that Sterling would demand 250,00,000 pounds per week.
However, Sterling was quite volatile during the World Cup as his performances hardly inspired, but it was difficult for the team to function well sans him too. Sterling’s dribbling and nifty footwork brought a new, unique dimension to England’s attacking style of play. His tendency to run at defenders and win fouls from decent positions on the field often gave England a benefit due to their obvious strength from set pieces.
His presence was quite important to the setup, and hence the initial calls to replace him with Marcus Rashford were rebuffed by the manager. This certainly demonstrates Sterling’s crucial role in the team’s way of functioning.
The forward’s inability to keep his composure in the final third was quite visible though. Sterling often put too much weight in his passes, and was rarely clinical in front of the goal. He failed to score despite being presented with numerous chances throughout the tournament and that did hurt England in some way or the other.
Sterling’s finishing has been a major concerning issue in his career. Though the 23-years-old manages to carve out good chances in front of the goal, he often lacks the cutting edge and the ruthlessness that a forward requires to notch goals at a consistent rate. Noticeably, it was visible during the World Cup period too.
However, Pep Guardiola seems to have worked diligently on Sterling’s game, and the Englishman delivered 18 goals and 11 assists in 33 matches last season. Sterling’s improvement was apparent in City’s title run, and he seemed to have put the doubts regarding his end product behind him.
A seemingly poor World Cup seems to strip Sterling’s chance of getting himself a better contract with higher wages. He was prolific and peripheral to City’s success last time around. The team relied quite a lot on his darting runs from the right wing, and hence it is safe to say that his national performances shouldn’t determine the whereabouts of his club career. If City plan on keeping him in the squad, then Sterling surely deserves a new contract.