Contract Drama as Sterling and Johnson Veer in Different Directions

While in the end all this chatter may amount to something quite resembling nothing at all, there’s some surprising news coming out of Anfield this morning with rumours circulating that Liverpool attacker Raheem Sterling has rejected a second contract extension from the Reds.

It was only a few days ago when boss Brendan Rodgers said he expected the 20-year old to be putting pen to paper on his new deal, but it’s starting to look like the manager was a bit hasty in his assessment of the situation. Despite having two years left on his current deal, the Anfield outfit are keen to tie Sterling down to a new deal, though their initial offer of £70,000k per week is thought to have been rejected by the wingers representatives. While it’s believed that the Reds have moved closer to the £100,00k mark, it sounds like that’s not going to fly either.

Although there’s no indication that Sterling is looking to leave Anfield as his contract negotiations rumble on, Glen Johnson — who has had a foot out of the door all season — now looks set to stay on Merseyside with the fullback reportedly pulling a massive U-turn over the terms of his new deal.

It’s been widely reported that the 30-year old would be taking a substantial loss in wages should he stay on with Liverpool, but it seems that Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has convinced the veteran defender to look past that after confirming that he’d like to keep Johnson in the team. After a spell out on the sidelines through injury, the former Portsmouth man returned to the starting eleven for yesterday’s scoreless draw with Championship side Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup. While his performance was a bit disjointed, if the Reds can hang on to him for a decent rate, he could prove to be a good squad player in the years to come.