Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has “told people privately” he wants to play in La Liga and that Real Madrid is “very attractive to him”, claims transfer expert Duncan Castles. Sterling spoke earlier this week about his admiration for Spanish giants Real. His quotes came just days after news broke that City have been banned by UEFA from European competition for the next two years.
Sterling reiterated his commitment to City but Castles says the England international is privately keen on moving to the Bernabeu in the future.
“Raheem Sterling’s just not long signed an improved contract at the club,” Castles said on the Transfer Window podcast.
“Raheem Sterling has told people privately for a long time that he sees himself playing in La Liga at some point in his career and that Real Madrid is a club that is very attractive to him.
“So this is genuine. This is Raheem Sterling signalling to Madrid that he is interested in playing for them and he’s doing it less than a week after Manchester City have been handed a two-year Champions League ban which will have a massive effect on their finances and threatens to take a player like Sterling, who you could easily argue has been one of the top performers in English football, some would argue he’s been the top performer in English football over the course of the last year.
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“I have a contract with City now and I have to respect this.
“Real Madrid are a fantastic club. When you see the white shirt you know exactly what the club stands for – it’s massive.”
Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola is adamant his squad will have complete focus on the remainder of the season despite the European ban looming over them.
“It’s normal in the Madrid media to speak about Madrid, that’s normal,” Guardiola said.
