Raheem Sterling not going out on-loan in January

Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling is staying at Liverpool, despite being linked with a move to Swansea

Raheem Sterling has been linked with a January loan move to Swansea in recent days.

It is a strange link considering that Sterling has made regular first team appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ side this season.

Sterling does not need a loan move to develop if he is getting first team football at Anfield with the Reds and at the moment he is.

Laughed

It seems that the Reds are not taking the link seriously, as Liverpool assistant manager Colin Pascoe told the Liverpool Echo: “We just laughed at that really,”

“Raheem has been brilliant this season. He won’t be going anywhere.”

Potential

There has been much talk about Sterling’s potential since he was making a name for himself as a youngster in the QPR youth teams. His performances and potential attracted the attention of Reds scouts.

The young winger has frightening pace and has trickery to boot as well. If he stays level-headed then he can go on to become a very good player.

Distractions

Unfortunately it seems that the youngster has got himself a bit of a bad boy reputation off the field. The youngster seemed to be distracted from his football last season by the off the field matters and his form suffered.

However, this season his form has been slightly more consistent. The fact that he has made 15 appearances this season may have also helped his development. Sterling needs to beware of the off-field distractions.

A host of young players have disappeared from football due to believing their own hype. Money and fame can go to youngster’s heads and if that happens then they can end up in the lower leagues or out of the game completely.

Football is littered with promising players that have promised a lot and delivered very little. Those players are a tale of caution for Sterling. If Sterling can concentrate on his football then he can fulfil his potential.

Needed

Sterling has all of a sudden established himself as a regular first team starter for the Reds in the last month. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers seems to rate the winger highly and he has not been scared to start the youngster on the wing for the Reds.

Rodgers always liked his wingers at Swansea and Sterling fits into the classic winger mould. A player that can take on his full-back, create goals and also get on the score sheet.

Sterling is now a regular fixture for Liverpool, so for the Reds to consider loaning him out is unlikely. I am sure that there are a number of teams that would love to take the youngster on-loan, as he is a player that does pose a big attacking threat, but it seems he is staying at Anfield for the foreseeable future.

Improvement

Raheem Sterling is still very raw and is developing with every game he plays. Sometimes his decision making could be better, but that will improve with experience and games played in the Premier League.

Future star

Raheem Sterling has the potential to be a star of future that is why Liverpool brought him into their first team at such a young age. At 19 years old he has plenty of time to improve and become the player that Liverpool hoped he would.

The key to Sterling continuing his development is concentrating on his football and staying level headed. If he can do that then he could go to the very top, if not then he could end up on the football scrapheap, which currently looks very unlikely.

FA Cup

Sterling looks likely to feature in Liverpool’s FA Cup third round tie against Oldham at Anfield tomorrow afternoon. The Reds are heavy favourites for victory at odds of 1/8, while the visitors are massive odds of 20/1 to progress to round four and the draw is 10/1.

A Liverpool victory looks like a foregone conclusion, but the Reds will looking to avoid any complacency, as the Latics knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup last season and also took Liverpool’s neighbours Everton to a replay before losing the replay.

Liverpool will be very confident of making it to the next round, despite the Latics defeating them last season. It unlikely there will be a repeat of last season’s cup heroics, but with the FA Cup you just never know.

Will Raheem Sterling become a star of the future?