Raheem Sterling is reportedly one of the Manchester City players who could be offered as part of a deal for Tottenham striker Harry Kane, but the England winger has no interest in a move to Spurs.
Reports this week said that City have made an opening offer worth £100 million plus players for the England captain, but Tottenham have no intention of accepting the bid.
According to ESPN, Sterling is one of the players being considered as a potential makeweight in the deal, but the 26-year-old doesn’t want to be involved.
Sources told the outlet that Sterling wasn’t open to the idea, adding that if he were to leave it would be on his own terms, and not as a pawn in a part-exchange deal.
You can understand Sterling’s reluctance to go.
Although the 2020/21 campaign wasn’t his best at City, as he lost his regular starting spot to Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez, he has played a key role under Pep Guardiola in recent years and will feel he still has a big part to play.
He has already been busy proving a point at Euro 2020, scoring both of England’s two goals so far in the competition to seal wins against Croatia and the Czech Republic, after some eyebrows were raised at his selection before the opening game.
The former Liverpool man has another two years left to run on his contract at the Etihad, so he's in no immediate hurry to make a big decision on his future.
With Kane determined to leave, but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy equally determined not to sell, it will be intriguing to see how City might tempt their Premier League rivals to cash in on their star player.
Other names that have been mentioned as part of a potential deal are Aymeric Laporte and Gabriel Jesus.
Will that be enough to tempt Levy? One thing seems certain – the Spurs chief isn’t going to cave in easily.
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