Sterling needs to man up over future – Gerrard

Steven Gerrard has told Raheem Sterling to sort out his Liverpool future once and for all to enable both parties to move on ahead of the new season.

Sterling has been in the spotlight over recent months after contract talks stalled, with Premier League rivals Manchester City reportedly having two bids for the forward rejected.

The England international missed training for a second day running on Thursday due to illness, shortly after agent Aidy Ward revealed there had been a “breakdown in trust” between Sterling and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers.

Gerrard – who himself departed Anfield during the close-season to join LA Galaxy – believes the 20-year-old needs to have clear-the-air talks with the Liverpool hierarchy, otherwise there could be no way back.

“I’m not happy with all that carry-on and I don’t think there’s any need for it,” he told Sky Sports News. “They all need to be men about the situation.

“Raheem needs to go in and speak to the owners and to Brendan himself, tell them what he wants and go about it that way. You don’t have to throw illnesses in and refuse to go on tour.

“There are millions and millions of Liverpool fans around the world who are itching to see Raheem Sterling in a Liverpool kit. So I don’t think it’s fair on them if he is behaving like that.

“He’s not flavour of the month with Liverpool fans at the moment, I can’t blame them for it, they’ve shown him great support and they all believe the best place for him to be is at Liverpool and I firmly believe that as well.

“It is very difficult for me to support Raheem and the people around him for what they are trying to do with his contract and his career at a young age.

“I am slightly disappointed in the that situation, in how far it’s gone and what it’s come to, because I can no other way only out for him at the moment.”