Football
ESPN staff 9y

Raheem Sterling on Liverpool bench due to 'huge weight on him' - Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes Raheem Sterling was not "mentally positioned" to play in Sunday's 6-1 hammering at Stoke City.

Sterling, 20, seems destined to leave Anfield over the summer with talks over a contract extension on hold. He still has two years left on his contract but the player's agent, Aidy Ward, has indicated there is no chance he will sign a new deal.

He was named as a substitute at the Britannia Stadium as Liverpool suffered their biggest-ever defeat in the Premier League era. But Rodgers did not turn to the forward even as his side collapsed.

Rodgers, who said he will walk away if the owners demand it, explained after game: "It was just that with Raheem a lot had been going on during the past couple of weeks in particular and I just felt there were other players better mentally positioned to play in the game.

"I think this was a game to take him out. There was a huge weight on him. He's a young player and he deals with it well. But we had other players who were more focused on the game."

He was targeted by angry Liverpool fans during the prematch warmup, with chants of "There's only one greedy bastard" heard.

Manchester City are thought to be at the head of the queue to sign the former Queens Park Rangers trainee, with reports that Liverpool want £60 million -- but Rodgers said in the week that he expects the England international to see out the remainder of his deal.

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