![By Kamran Hussain (Raheem Sterling) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/18d3fb4675d622ce9b964cbf26b464b082dbf440d8af06c3af5b7c58292b23ca.jpg "By Kamran Hussain (Raheem Sterling) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Chelsea FC are rumored to be making a move for Liverpool’s want away midfielder Raheem Sterling. The young Englishman has been a star on Merseyside for the past two seasons and is reportedly looking for a move to a bigger club. Reports suggest that Chelsea are interested in the youngster but will not spend a pound more than £40m on him.
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That price is reportedly a good £10m away from Liverpool’s current valuation of Sterling so the two sides would have to come to an agreement to make it happen. Here is why there is likely very little truth to those reports.
A year or so ago in the summer of the 2014 World Cup, Chelsea FC were linked with English youngster Luke Shaw. The fullback had a wonderful season at Southampton and had become a hot commodity on the transfer market.
There were rumors of Chelsea’s interest in him and the fact that he was a boyhood fan of the club made it all the more likely for it to happen. Southampton stood to make a significant profit off the youngster and why wouldn’t he want to play for his favorite club?
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Shaw ended up moving to Manchester United for a fee of around £30m and was set to be paid in the range of £150k a week. These numbers become all the more staggering when you see that Luke Shaw made all of 18 appearances for United last season and was often out of favor with manager Louis Van Gaal.
Jose Mourinho revealed later that spending that much on an unproven player and paying him that much in wages would have caused friction in the Chelsea dressing room and it is not something that he wanted to do. So if he would not do that for Luke Shaw why would he do that for Raheem Sterling?
There is little doubt that Sterling is a talented young player and the fact that he is English makes him that much more valuable but £40m is still an absurd number for a player like him.
Considering Chelsea FC got a 20 goal striker in Diego Costa and a 20 assist machine in Cesc Fabregas for around £30m each shows that will spend big when needed, but only on proven players. Even Eden Hazard was bought for £32m and he is already one of the best players in world football.
By virtue of playing in England it is understandable that English players would be valued more than any other nationality. The FA and Premier League have their homegrown player rules and there are only so many English players worthy of playing at the top clubs in the league.
Still, even that does not justify the price tag that is being placed on youngsters like Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane. Chelsea may in fact be interested in the Liverpool winger as he would fill a need for the club, but not at that price and not in the era of Financial Fair Play.
Sterling is a talented player with great potential but £40m is far too much to spend on potential alone. The contributions he would bring to Chelsea they can get from other world class players at a fraction of the cost. For Mourinho, a dressing room in harmony is one that wins championships and he will not risk upsetting his own by paying so much for an unproven and untested young player.
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