Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has criticised Raheem Sterling after the player refused to participate in the club’s pre-season tour in the Far East.
Sterling, 19, has been the subject of two bids–one of which was reportedly in the region £40 million–from Manchester City, but the club and manager Brendan Rodgers apparently still want to keep the England international.
“I’m not happy with all that carry-on and I don’t think there’s any need for it,” Gerrard told Sky Sports News HQ. “They all need to be men about the situation.
“Raheem needs to go in and speak to the owners and to Brendan himself, tell them what he wants and go about it that way. You don’t have to throw illnesses in and refuse to go on tour.
“There are millions and millions of Liverpool fans around the world who are itching to see Raheem Sterling in a Liverpool kit. So I don’t think it’s fair on them if he is behaving like that.”
Sterling, whose current deal at Anfield expires in the summer of 2017, bagged seven goals and seven assists in 35 English Premier League appearances for the Reds last season.
Liverpool are priced at 28/1 to win the Premier League title in 2015/16.
Nzonzi completes Sevilla switch
Sevilla have completed the signing of Steven Nzonzi from Stoke City for a reported fee of £7 million, according to Sky Sports.
The former France Under-21 international, 26, moves to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán on a four-year deal which includes a buy-out clause of €30 million.
“It’s been well documented there’s been interest from Sevilla,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes said on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to a point where the club is comfortable with the deal Sevilla have come up with, so we’ve given Steven permission to speak with them.
“We worked really hard to convince Steven his future lay here but it didn’t seem to be enough.”
Nzonzi scored three goals in 38 Premier League appearances for the Potters last term.
Schweinsteiger ‘flattered’ by ‘interest from England’
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is ‘flattered’ by reported interest from England.
Schweinsteiger, 30, has one year remaining on his current deal at the Allianz Arena, and has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in recent times.
“I spoke to Bastian Schweinsteiger on the phone while on holiday and we’re going to meet again when he’s back,” Rummenigge said.
“I’m not going to hide the fact that I discerned from these talks that he is flattered by the interest from England.”
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