Raheem Sterling was open to joining Liverpool ahead of Chelsea last summer but the Reds had no interest in bringing the forward back to Anfield, according to a new report.
The former Manchester City star made the move to West London after falling out of favour under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad as he entered the final 12 months of his deal. Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel signed the England forward for a fee in the region of £47.5m and made him one of the most prominent signings of the Todd Boehly era.
However, The Athletic claims the 28-year-old forward would have been "open" to moving back to Liverpool, his home of five years prior to his controversial exit in the summer of 2015, but those at Anfield were not interested in exploring such a deal.
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"There was a lot of talk about interest from the Spanish giants or Paris Saint-Germain, but this was never on the cards," claims the report. "He would have been open to a move back to previous club Liverpool, but that was a non-starter, too. Chelsea were his only option."
The Jamaican-born forward signed for the Reds in 2010 from Queens Park Rangers and rose to stardom as he progressed through the ranks at the Reds' Kirkby academy before being handed his Premier League debut by Sir Kenny Dalglish in 2012.
And after playing his part in one of the Premier League's most talented forward trios of all time - alongside Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, who nearly ended the club's 24-year wait for a league title - Sterling left the club just 12 months later.
Considering his tender age at the time, the circumstances surrounding his exit from Liverpool made national headlines as rejected a £100,000 per week contract after slamming Anfield officials for not attempting to renew his terms at an earlier date. That, and advice from former agent Aidy Ward, led to Sterling having a somewhat frosty end to his career with the Reds as he was booed by supporters ahead of the 6-1 defeat to Stoke City in May 2015.
In his years at Manchester City, the forward was frequently the recipient of boos whenever he returned to Anfield as Reds supporters looked to make their feelings for Sterling known, and rather tellingly his only goal at his former home came in February 2021 when Premier League matches were played behind closed doors.
While Sterling could've been an interesting replacement for Sadio Mane, who departed Anfield to move to Bayern Munich, Liverpool instead opted to sign Darwin Nunwz from Benfica for a potential club-record fee which could surpass the fee the Reds paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.
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