All this outrage over Raheem Sterling rejecting his Liverpool contract offer is misguided, writes Bobby Gardiner, in a debut piece for Just Football. Here’s why….

O n March 31st, Raheem Sterling tweeted a link to the song ‘Champion’ by Chipmunk ft Chris Brown, claiming that the “song tells you everything about” him. It would seem the British public failed to extrapolate his extended thoughts on the ongoing contract saga from the (terrible) song, forcing Sterling to speak to the BBC the next day to express them himself.

Eagerly scrambling for anything that wasn’t another Harry Kane piece, British media outlets have swarmed on the young Englishman like vultures, tearing apart the syntax of his every sentence to create a seemingly infinite amount of conflicting opinions on the matter. “He doesn’t know how good he has it at Liverpool” chastises Paul Scholes in his Independent column, basing the crux of his argument, like most, on how old Sterling is – “What more could you want at that age?”

When Sterling’s age is mentioned in regards to his contract, the underlying assumption is that he isn’t yet worth what he’s demanding. ‘That’s too much money for a 20-year old’ is only really saying that it’s extremely unconventional.

But, then again, so is Raheem Sterling. 20-year old English wonderkids are hard to come by; 20-year old English wonderkids producing the level of output he already is are damn near impossible to find.

Liverpool’s reliance on Sterling this season is almost double what it was last year. Of 44 league goals scored by the club in 2014/15, he has scored six and assisted seven, playing 91% of their 11 v 11 minutes (see graphic below).

When 21-year old Eden Hazard joined Chelsea, he signed a contract reportedly worth £170,000 per week. In the three years since, he’s gone on to become the club’s star player and been rewarded with a bump up to, again, reportedly, £200,000 per week. Given the level he plays at, no one would dispute whether or not he is worth that much, so why is this different with Sterling?

Raheem Sterling: underrated?

A tad perversely, Sterling is perhaps underrated. Analysing his 2014/15 stats against Hazard’s, you can see how similar their output actually is, which is even more remarkable given that Brendan Rodgers has used Sterling in a variety of roles this campaign.

Non-Penalty Goals per 90: Hazard 0.32 – 0.22 Sterling

Shots: Hazard 2 – 2.4 Sterling

Key Passes: Hazard 2.8 – 2.2 Sterling

Assists: Hazard 6 – 7 Sterling

Passing (%): Hazard 87.3 – 80.4 Sterling

Successful Dribbles: Hazard 4.7 – 3 Sterling

Considering Hazard is indisputably worth his wages, one could actually argue that Sterling, four years his junior, is worth more than the Belgian magician in that he may yet become better. Age, then, would go from being the reason that Sterling should remain content to the cause of his belief that he is in fact worth more.

On top of this, Liverpool have recently boasted of implementing a performance-based wage system to encourage their players to produce more. Given the emphasis on analytics and performance evaluation, Sterling is likely to be aware of just how unusually good he is for a 20-year old, allowing him even more bargaining power in contract negotiations.

‘Worth’ in itself is largely subjective, but I find it hard as a neutral to criticise Sterling’s willingness to use the sellers’ market to his advantage. As Chipmunk so eloquently puts it in ‘Champion’, “not everybody gets a second chance at getting money”.

How many times has Wayne Rooney flirted with other clubs to inflate his own wages, yet remained the heart of Manchester United? Even if Sterling is the mercenary he claims he isn’t, the fans will forgive him and he knows this.

It may not be exactly what Liverpool fans or Rodgers would like to see, but that Sterling knows what he wants and is willing to fight for it probably makes him more likely to improve than someone who believes they should want nothing more at that age.

Who’s better?

If you think about it, there aren’t many brighter prospects than Sterling in world football. Paul Pogba, 22, springs to mind, but he is likely to negotiate yet another pay rise with Juventus soon off the back of his agent’s persistent manipulation of the media to link him to United, Manchester City, Real Madrid etc.

Of the U21s, Sterling is only really rivalled by Luciano Vietto, Mateo Kovacic, Memphis Depay and Paolo Dybala, all of whom are constantly linked to bigger clubs.

SEE ALSO: Good Player Guide #30 – Luciano Vietto: the young Argentine hotshot tracked by Liverpool

Liverpool are hardly a poor club either. They once paid Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and Andy Carroll around £100k per week each and came 9th in the world in Deloitte’s most recent money league.

R aheem Sterling is 20 years old, English, arguably the best young prospect in the world and about to finish his second season of top quality (Hazard-esque) performances, in what is sometimes called the best league in the world. Is he worth £150k a week? Other clubs would definitely say so. Mike L. Goodman puts it brilliantly: “as it stands, it seems like Liverpool value Sterling less than the current market does.”

Whether or not his methodology is slightly immoral, Sterling could be doing far worse – the villainous archetype of a footballing mercenary doesn’t care where he plays as long as the money is there. Sterling, though, would prefer to play at Liverpool and be paid handsomely.

There will have to be some compromise, but Liverpool fans should be grateful that they probably won’t have to watch him leave and face the pain that others, most notably Borussia Dortmund fans with Mario Goetze, have had to endure.

Is Sterling underrated? Or a money-grabbing so-and-so? Let us know below or on Twitter @JustFootball:

Bobby Gardiner is a new writer for Just Football and runs the FalseIX blog. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyGardiner. Stats above via Whoscored.com.

(main image credit: Bernard Chan via Flickr)