The Reds are making plans for life after Raheem and are thought to be waiting on a sale to free up the funds necessary to meet Christian Benteke’s release clause.

City, meanwhile, have been quiet in the window thus far, with young Turkish striker Enes Unal representing their first dip into the market, and Manuel Pellegrini will want to make a signal of intent to their title rivals before too long.

Premier League Steven Gerrard slams Sterling over transfer 'carry-on' 10/07/2015 AT 08:28

While the Citizens’ defence was heavily criticised last season they conceded just once more (38) than in their title-winning campaign the previous year. It was the attack that suffered the biggest drop off in performance, scoring 19 goals fewer than in 2013/14 despite Sergio Aguero's best efforts. The desire to bolster their ranks further forward is understandable.

Sterling has been identified as City’s number one target to do just that, but where would the England international best fit into Pellegrini’s side? WhoScored.com investigate…

Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that should Pellegrini have any designs on fielding a 4-4-2 next season, a tactic he has been lambasted for using on the big stage in the past, then Sterling probably isn’t worth the riches it would take to force Liverpool’s hand.

The youngster only made three appearances in a midfield four or five last season but with an average rating of just 6.47 from WhoScored in said games, his style of play isn’t suited to a role in which he needs to be more defensively aware.

It would be wrong to say that Sterling is at all a lazy player but he lacks the tactical discipline to perform the defensive duties asked of a wide midfielder or even wing-back. With statistical weaknesses when it comes to defensive contribution and aerial duels, as well as crossing, the Liverpool ace is far better when cutting inside to run at defenders in advanced positions.

Across a remarkable eight different starting positions last season, which is very commendable in itself for a player of such a young age, Sterling made 43 appearances in the league and Europe combined. While injury to Daniel Sturridge saw the 20-year old make start as a centre-forward 11 times it was clear that Brendan Rodgers hadn’t settled on what he felt was Sterling’s best position.

Should City sign the England man and opt for a 4-2-3-1 the stats suggest Sterling would be best deployed on the left of the attacking midfield trio.

He may have only scored once in eight appearances from that position but also registered three assists, as well as averaging 3.9 successful dribbles per game, up from 2.9 from the season overall. Over these matches Sterling’s statistical rating of 7.73 from WhoScored was his highest of any starting position by a considerable margin.

Given that David Silva was deployed on the left in 26 of his 37 starts across the league and Champions League last season, he will no doubt welcome the chance to move infield, especially when you consider the Spaniard scored five of his 12 league goals from just nine starts in a central attacking midfield position in 2014/15.

Manchester City's David Silva and Arsenal's Francis Coquelin battle for the ball Image credit: PA Photos

That would spell trouble for Samir Nasri, but given the Frenchman’s regression last season, with his rating from WhoScored.com dropping from 7.34 to 6.94, that’s likely to be an intentional move on City’s part.

Following the departure of James Milner, heading in what looks likely to be the opposite direction to Sterling, Pellegrini certainly needs to add quality in wide areas. The jury is still out on Jesus Navas, who, despite still looking like a youth teamer thrown in with the bigger boys, will turn 30 before the year’s end and the age of this current City squad is certainly an issue. Sterling’s arrival would only bring down that average so much; so younger recruits will be seen as a necessity.

For everyone’s sake, including both sets of fans, it would be best to come to a conclusion on Sterling’s future sooner rather than later. The Reds’ supporters are resigned to losing a player they have turned their back on following the questionable behaviour of both the youngster and his agent, while City followers are just waiting for a deal to be done, with any great excitement over a prospective transfer seemingly diminishing by the day.

Should he make the move to the Etihad, however, the Citizens have every right to be excited. Fresh faces and, perhaps more pertinently, legs are needed. If Sterling makes the switch to Manchester the numbers certainly suggest he’d be best deployed stretching his out on the left.

Martin Laurence - @martinlaurence7

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with their new free-to-download iOS and Android app.

Premier League Sterling misses training again as agent claims 'breakdown in trust' with Rodgers 09/07/2015 AT 09:24