Raheem Sterling

Sterling definitely is not a consistent dribbler like other players but mind you, he is still one of the top dribblers in PL, already at this age. As Marty said, the Newcastle goal was more about sudden change of pace. He uses that more often than only dribbling imo.

All said, we have to keep Sterling for one more season no matter what. I would take the risk to lose him for lesser fee with one year left on his contract. I think even with 1 year we can get a hefty amount given the competition between clubs who will want to have him. Also, in case if he starts the next season firing on all cylinders, by January we can offer him a bumper mega deal.

Sterling's strength in dribbling is not his control or his touch but, as mentioned, it's his speed and agility. He is very hard to keep up with if he suddenly changes direction and you don't anticipate it because his acceleration and pace are on another level to 99% of players. His job to make his dribbling and speed a consistent threat is learning when to use it and when to be a bit smarter. He can take some nice shots too, but I wouldn't say that he's going to ever be the most clinical of finishers. He is going to be a player that can draw others to him, penetrate deep and then sometimes be a goal threat but more often be able to create the space (or an opening) for someone else to score.

There's no question this guy is a world class talent but at this point he doesn't have the consistency to be considered world class, and doesn't deserve a wage package associated with that. If he wants to refuse 100k/week because he thinks he can get more that's fine, but he probably isn't going anywhere this summer regardless (although to be honest I would sell him if he really doesn't want to play here anymore as long as a 50m+ offer came in for him).

Honestly though as annoyed as I am with the childish antics and greedy refusals (srsly Coutinho is on 75k and is the focal point of our team, older, and more proven) I would still prefer he signed a contract and stayed. Sakho - Can - Henderson - Coutinho - Sterling is a really lovely base for a powerhouse of a team moving forward.

Situation is taking a decidedly odd bent now with a third leak of photos in just about as many days. That's 3 separate leaks to three different papers in less than a week with content largely, perhaps even ENTIRELY, months old, at least. Meanwhile the Echo reports refer to this as a "vindictive" effort by some unnamed or unknown party to "unsettle" Sterling.

While I'm generally not one for conspiracies and whatnot the grouping seems too close to be coincidence. Ex-friend(s) looking to get a bit of revenge after being cut out of Sterling's life, perhaps?

Yeah i doubt you're off Red, these aren't just random photos, someone close to the Lad is releasing them, at least his learning that he'll need to pick his friends wisely now.