Amid all the contract saga between Liverpool and Raheem Sterling, it had emerged that Chelsea had joined the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in a bidding war to sign Raheem Sterling next summer.
All of Chelsea’s hopes came crashing down to earth when Brendan Rodgers cleared to the world that Sterling will not be leaving Anfield next summer under any circumstances. Rodgers was being quizzed in his pre-match conference and he clearly denied any suggestions of Liverpool wanting to cash-in on Sterling.
Rodgers said: “I don’t see it, no.”
“Listen, ultimately I cannot speak for the owners, but I have a good idea of what they would do. I know them well from my time here and for me it would not happen.
“He’s not going anywhere in the summer – Liverpool is one of the superpowers of football and the owners have made it clear the money doesn’t come into it. If the club doesn’t want to sell, they won’t.
“If any player ever left – Raheem or any other, it would be on the terms of the club. We, as a club, have shown [in previous cases] that it’s not the case that money talks.
“But that’s a long, long way off.
These words have at least put the breaks on all the news surrounding Sterling’s exit for now but come the summer, Chelsea will be back with a strong intention of signing the player as they see him as the ideal player to lead the future Chelsea teams to glory.