Manchester United are planning a shock swoop for Raheem Sterling as part of their summer rebuild as Manchester City fight their Champions League ban.
According to a report published by Independent, Raheem Sterling has come across as a new target for Manchester United as part of their summer rebuild.
Sterling came through the Liverpool academy and got his first big breakthrough in the 2013-14 season when his team finished second in the Premier League after coming incredibly close to the title for the first time in nearly two decades. And the only way has been up for the Englishman ever since – for the most part anyway.
After an impressive 2014-15 season, when he racked up 7 goals and 5 assists, Sterling moved to Manchester City for an amount upwards of £55 million, but failed to live up to his price tag in the subsequent season. However, since the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the club, the 25-year-old has taken his game to a new level, becoming the second most valuable player in the world.
Building on his incredible campaign from last year, when he won the Premier League Young Player of the Year award for his 17 goals and 10 assists, Sterling has managed to net 11 goals this season as well including a hat-trick on the very first matchday, where Manchester City thrashed West Ham United.
Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer has been quite adamant on rebuilding Manchester United’s team, mostly with the help of young players who are willing to join, in his words, “one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
As part of the squad overhaul, the Norwegian has identified some problematic spots in the starting lineup that need to be addressed. These spots include the one position that has been quite troublesome for Manchester United for many years now, which is the right wing.
The Red Devils signed Daniel James last season to fill in that spot, but his first season in the English top flight has gone exactly how you would expect it would, and so Manchester United have been closely tracking Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, who has taken the continent by storm over the last two seasons.
Despite being in pole position to sign the winger, Manchester United understand that there is a chance they might miss out on the former Manchester City man, with a lot of top clubs ready to secure his services. This is where Sterling comes in.
The ex-Liverpool star is quite capable of playing on either wing, with almost equal impact and could become available this summer if the Champions League ban on City is not uplifted. And the report suggests that United will be chasing his signature if that happens. He is likely to cost the 20-time league winners around £150 million, nearly £30 million more than what Sancho would.
Sterling is one of the best players in the world, and would most likely prefer a move to a club competing for the biggest European competitions instead of trusting in a project. That said, it would be rather surprising to see if Manchester United do, in fact, go after Sterling when a move for Jadon Sancho seems inevitable at the moment.
