If Raheem Sterling leaves it won't affect Liverpool significantly

At this point in the transfer window, nothing is certain and every rumor and “insider” tidbit should be taken with quite a few grains of salt. But if there’s anything I’ve learned through eight years of following Liverpool, it’s that some rumors have an inevitable air to them. With every big transfer to (and from) the club, the rumors start small and take time. Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez, two of the club’s biggest signings of the past decade, were always destined to leave. When Torres was rumored to leave, I was in denial until the last possible second. During the summer of 2013, it felt certain that we’d be losing Luis Suarez to one of the Spanish giants. Brendan Rodgers convinced him to stay, but that only allowed the din of the rumor mill to get even louder over the course of the following season, Suarez’s best at Liverpool. So when the toothy Uruguayan bit Giorgio Chiellini during that fateful World Cup match, I knew it was over. Whether or not this was an intentional move to get transferred or not, the writing was on the wall.

So what about Raheem Sterling? He didn’t arrive with the fanfare of Torres or Suarez when Liverpool signed him at the age of 16 from Queens Park Rangers in 2010. Sterling was far from a superstar, though he did catch the eye of many a scout. He made mild headlines when he made his debut for the Liverpool first team in 2012, but there wasn’t much to say about his debut or any of his subsequent appearances that season. The hype around Sterling was a slow build, as he flourished during the 2013-14 season when he was surrounded by the most in-form attack in the English Premier League, comprised of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho. He scored 10 goals that season, a healthy return for a player of his age, and was rewarded with a place on the PFA Young Player of the Year shortlist and Europe’s prized Golden Boy award.

The furor surrounding the Suarez transfer drowned out any noise about Sterling during the following summer, but even as the 2014-15 season began, the inevitable rumor popped up here and there. Having been one of England’s best players at the 2014 World Cup and a solid member of Liverpool’s “almost” season previous to that, Sterling’s stock was flying high. Liverpool struggled without Suarez and Sturridge was constantly plagued with injury for much of the season. Sterling showed flashes of class, but a constantly toothless Liverpool attack relied on him to lead the line – something that he wasn’t exactly prepared to do. The player scored only three goals in that position, with a further eight across all competitions in a different position that season.

The stats for Sterling at this point are a mixed bag. His goals and assist numbers aren’t exactly top of any tables, but he shines in other areas like chances created. Liverpool has already been buying like crazy this summer, bringing in players like Roberto Firmino to create chances and score goals next season. But Sterling is still a Liverpool player. Where he will be next season is anyone’s guess. If he does leave Liverpool, will he be missed? That’s a tough question. As a fan, I was utterly devastated when the club sold Fernando and Suarez. It’s been almost a year since Suarez left for Barcelona, and that one still stings a bit. Suarez had been absolutely phenomenal prior to that, almost singlehandedly bringing a Premier League trophy to a club so desperate for one. Liverpool went from world-class to second class due to one departing player. Sterling isn’t even close to the talisman Suarez was. Sterling is still a relatively raw talent that, while important to the squad, is far from key to Liverpool’s potential success. What would hurt, though, is if he was sold to a rival like Manchester City that was able to foster his talent into a truly world-class player.

But as they say, no player is bigger than the club, and in this case Liverpool won’t suffer greatly with a decent spread of attacking midfield options and another big cash injection from a prospective Sterling sale.