Raheem Sterling’s ‘£320,000-a-week contract talks put on hold with Manchester City star weighing up his own management options following split with agent earlier this year’
- Raheem Sterling currently earns £275,000 a week but wants an increase
- The 26-year-old split from Aidy Ward in January and is looking for a new agent
- Manchester City have decided to turn their attentions to three other stars
- The club wants to give Kevin De Bruyne a bumper new deal until 2026
- City are also keen to extend Fernandinho’s contract – if he doesn’t retire
- They also want to agree new terms with injury-ravaged striker Sergio Aguero
Raheem Sterling‘s plans for a new £320,000-a-week deal have been put on hold for the time being as Manchester City prioritise contract talks with three of their top stars.
Sterling, who currently earns £275,000 a week, split from his agent Aidy Ward in January.
Ward had represented Sterling since he was a teenager at Liverpool and as the search continues to find his replacement, The Sun reports that Man City have turned their attention to negotiating new deals for Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero.
Raheem Sterling split from agent Aidy Ward in January and is looking for new management
Manchester City have decided to prioritise negotiating a new contract for Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne, the team’s highest earner, is top of the list, with City looking to tie down the club’s reigning Player of the Season to a new five-year deal which would make keep him at the Etihad until the summer of 2026, with his current deal expiring in 2023.
Fernandinho and Aguero both see their current contracts run this summer, with the Brazilian unsure whether he will carry on playing beyond this season having rejected claims he is due to City’s coaching staff as Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
Aguero meanwhile is settled at the team he joined in 2011, but has scored just once in an injury-ravaged season and City are apparently unwilling to match his current £230,000-a-week wages given his repeated muscle problems since he joined the club, with the striker against the idea of taking a significant pay cut.
Fernandinho will be 36 in May and has not decided whether he wants to continue playing
Sergio Aguero is happy at the Etihad – but is unwilling to accept a significant cut to his pay
Sterling and De Bruyne have once again enjoyed stellar seasons as City remain on course for a historic quadruple, with the Englishman on 12 goals and nine assists, while the Belgian is on seven goals and a whopping 16 assists this term.
The challenge facing City as they continue to fight on all four fronts is underlined in April as they faced a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Erling Haaland’s Borussia Dortmund, tricky league fixtures against Leicester and Leeds, an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea and finally a Carabao Cup final against Tottenham.
Despite his transformation of English football, Guardiola has only managed a double at best since arriving at City in 2015. Can he go two better this time round?
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