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Raheem Sterling insists he has not been affected by the criticism coming his way in recent weeks after confirming he has opted against signing a new contract with Liverpool and will consider his career options at the end of this season. Widespread reports have suggested Sterling turned down a £100,000-per-week deal, with the 20-year-old forward subsequently being linked with a lucrative summer move to Manchester City. Yet in a recent interview, Sterling suggested he is not being distracted by speculation over his future and instead is focusing on finishing what has been a turbulent season for Liverpool on a high. "Everyone has their opinion on me at this moment in time, but I'm just a kid who loves to play football and to try and improve every day and be the best I can be," Sterling said. "It just goes in one ear and goes out the other. I don't read anything, don't look at anything and, for me, it's all football. I'm genuinely focused on doing my best for this football club. "I'm just taking it in my stride and hopefully in these last few games, the run-in until the end of the season, I can kick on again. I'm still learning and developing so only time will tell." Sterling went on to reveal he has yet to reach his personal scoring targets for this season, and was keen to offer up an upbeat tone before Liverpool play their first match since their FA Cup semifinal defeat against Aston Villa. The team face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. "I set targets for myself at the start of the season and I'm probably a few goals behind where I wanted to be," he said. "I'm my own biggest critic. I don't need anyone to tell me when I've played badly. I know when I've done bad, I'm always looking where I could have done better or scored an extra goal. "This is the world that we live in. You look at the players like Ronaldo and these players are critical on themselves. These are the people that you need to idolise and look up to. "It's fallen really nicely for me to play at the highest level. From when I signed at Liverpool as a 14- or 15-year-old boy, it was my dream to be at Anfield and I was not going anywhere until I'd done that." Sterling went on to conclude that Liverpool's dip in form in recent weeks does not mean this season should be condemned as a failure, and insisted progress is being made under boss Brendan Rodgers. "Last season was a great season for everyone at this football club," Sterling said. "Obviously we didn't start the season as well as we would have liked, we've definitely shown qualities and the manager has shown us stats from the start of the year and we've probably been one of the better teams in the league."
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