Sterling seals £49m move to ‘excited’ City

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Reds boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed on Monday that a deal for Sterling to join City was in place after the two clubs finally agreed a fee of around £49m for the England winger.

Two bids, the first believed to be £25m and the second reportedly £40m, had already been rejected by the Anfield outfit, but City returned with a third and final bid in order to secure Sterling’s services.

The 20-year-old joins Manuel Pellegrini’s men on a reported five-year deal, and revealed his delight at finally securing his main summer target.

“Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in world football,” he told City’s official website. “He is a young player with outstanding ability.”

“I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week.

“I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team.”

Sterling’s former club QPR will receive 20% of the initial £44m fee, as well as the additional £5m in clauses, meaning the Championship side are owed around £9.8m of the overall cost.

Sterling becomes the most expensive English player ever, dethroning the Reds’ own purchase of Andy Carroll in 2011, and ranking behind only Gareth Bale in terms of the costliest British players in history. Only Fernando Torres’ £50m move from Anfield to Chelsea outstrips Sterling in regards to the biggest transfer made between two Premier League clubs.

“Liverpool FC wishes Raheem well,” was the message from the Reds on their official site.