Raheem Sterling has 18 months left on his current deal with Manchester City and with each passing week, rumours of his exit are picking up speed.
The England international has fallen slightly down the pecking order and now that Pep Guardiola has signed Jack Grealish, Sterling will have to keep proving himself each and every week.
Even a slight dip in form will result in him sitting on the bench which is why he’s claimed that he is ready to move out of England in the near future, should the opportunity arise.
Sterling said, as quoted by talkSPORT: “If there was the opportunity to go somewhere else [for more game time], I would be open to it at this moment in time.
“As I said, football is the most important thing to me – challenges that I have set myself from a young age and dreams as well, to play abroad.
“As an English player all I know is the Premier League and I have always had something down [in me] that maybe one day I would love to play abroad to see how I would come up against that challenge.”
Raheem Sterling set to leave Manchester City next summer?
Raheem Sterling has played in seven Premier League games this season but he’s started in only two of them. And it’s an open secret that Jack Grealish has become the first-choice left winger for Manchester City right now.
If Jack Grealish can come good at Man City this season then there’s no way Guardiola will offer a new contract to Sterling meaning he’s more than likely to leave next summer.
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He’s been heavily linked with Premier League clubs like Arsenal and Newcastle United but in the past couple of weeks, Barcelona have also been associated with him.
If Ousmane Dembele does not sign a new deal with the Catalans then there’s every chance that Raheem Sterling could be heading to Camp Nou. But having said that, we don’t think he will be too eager to head out of the EPL, especially since Newcastle and Arsenal already want him.
English players do not particularly succeed out of their homeland so the 26-year-old will want to keep a move to the La Liga as his last option.
Arsenal and Newcastle United are expected to make a move for Sterling during the January transfer window but we don’t think the Man City boss will be eager to sell him during the middle of the season.
Barcelona are undoubtedly a bigger club than both Arsenal and the Magpies but Raheem Sterling will want to remain in England so the two English sides will remain at the front of the queue, as and when he decides to leave Manchester City.
