After months of speculation and two rejected big money bids, Liverpool and Manchester City have finally agreed on a £49 million fee for promising youngster Raheem Sterling.
If the deal successfully goes through, Sterling will be the most expensive English player ever and will be the third most expensive player in Premier League history.
How much is Sterling going to cost City?
Sterling will already cost City £49 million, but it is also being reported that he is going to be earning huge £200,000-per-week wages for up to five years. With those wages, Sterling is set to cost the club around £50 million in wages over the five years, meaning City will be forking out £100 million on the 20-year-old.
The fee for English players is always larger than players that come from overseas and Manchester City need to sign some English players to comply with the FA's home-grown rules, so they were always going to pay a large fee for a player with huge potential, but it is seen as a huge risk as Sterling has often failed to shine in some of the bigger matches.
What Sterling brings to City
If any club pays a huge fee, they are expecting the player to bring a lot of talent with them. Raheem Sterling has been one of Liverpool's best players over the last few seasons, but he has not always been a consistent performer.
Since breaking into the Liverpool first team back in 2011, Sterling has managed to score 23 goals in 129 appearances for Liverpool, playing as a winger, a central attacking midfielder, a wing-back and most recently a striker.
Last season, Sterling scored 11 goals in 52 appearances, but his performances came under fire after poor decision-making and inconsistent performances, with his shooting also coming under gire. He showed last year he is far from a finished product, but with constant playing time and hard work, he could become one of the best players in the world.
But at the same time, there is also the chance that he could also follow in the footsteps of players like Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell, who also had huge potential but failed to live up to it during their spells at Manchester City.
Who got the better deal?
Most football fans are in agreement that Liverpool did get the better end of the deal. £49 million is more than the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard or Luis Suarez have been bought for in previous years and all these players have proven their worth and gone on to win major trophies.
Sterling has not proven himself yet and Manchester City have paid a huge fee for just potential, but that's not to say it won't prove good business in the future.
We won't know until a few years whether City made a mistake or made a world class signing, but for now, Liverpool are the ones who have done some good business - getting rid of a player who wanted out and making an immense profit in the process.
