Liverpool manager
Brendan Rodgers insists Raheem Sterling will not leave the club this summer and
says the forward made a mistake in giving an unauthorized interview.
The
England star caused controversy earlier in the week when he admitted turning
down a recent £100,000-a-week contract offer but he remains tied to the Anfield
club until the summer of 2017.
Sterling subsequently
insisted the stand-off has arisen because of his desire for trophies rather than money,
but in a bid to kill off speculation Premier League rivals Arsenal will swoop for his
services over the summer, Rodgers has reiterated that the 20-year-old is not for sale.
The Northern Irishman
said: "Raheem has two and a half years left on his deal and he's not going
anywhere in the summer. He's quite relaxed, as I am, and he just wants to
focus on the rest of the season."Concentration, like I said a few weeks back,
should be on his football and continuing his development. He's made great
strides over the last couple of years and his only concentration should be the
remaining games."The last time we sat down we discussed that that was the
intentions of the player, his representatives and the club. Obviously Raheem
has come out and made his feelings clear on that and hopefully his focus will
be on the football now."If his ambition is to win a trophy, that’s
perfectly aligned with what we are trying to do here. Arsenal is a fantastic
club but this is Liverpool and it's an honour to him to play here for these
great supporters and he understands that."The player he is today is
because of the environment we've created here. He's not going anywhere in the
summer and we'll focus on trying to make him the best player we can.
