Is Raheem Sterling worth the money?

DONE DEAL: Sterling completes move to Manchester City 

City have announced the signing of Raheem Sterling, in a deal believed to be worth up to £49m with add-ons. City's two previous bid, worth £30m and £40m respectively, were rejcted by the Anfield club, but a deal seemed inevitable with Sterling's position on Merseyside increasingly untenable.

The 20-year-old had refused to sign a £100,000 a week contract extension, and angered Liverpool with an interview given to the BBC at the end of last season. His agent, Aidy Ward, added to the controversy by claiming the player wouldn't sign a new deal even if he were offered £900,000 a week.

Sterling joined Liverpool from QPR in 2010, and made his first team debut in 2012. He went on to score 18 goals in 91 appearances for the club, and won the European "Golden Boy" award in 2014, a prestigous award given to the best under 21 player in Europe.

The signing of Sterling represents a coup for City, and helps boost the club's homegrown quota. His pace and ability to beat a man will add another dimension to City's attack, as manager Manuel Pellegrini seeks to reclaim the Premiership title from Chelsea next season.

Pellegrini praised Sterling, saying he“ is one of the best attacking players in world football, and I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week. 

“He is a young player with outstanding ability, and I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team."

The £49m deal is a club record, beating the previous record of £38m spent on Sergio Aguero in 2011. Having been freed from FFP restrictions recently, City are expected to pursue further deals for Kevin de Bruyne and Paul Pogba in the coming days.

Raheem Sterling has time on his side. How else can Manchester City justify spending £49m on a player who has never scored in the Champions League and has three times as many bookings for England as he has international goals? Manchester United have bought Germany's captain, Holland's brightest prospect and Italy's right-back for a combined fee of £51m this summer, so in what world is a sulking Sterling worth £49m? In the crazy world of English football. The crazy world where TV companies pay £5.14bn to show football matches, English players are thought to be more valuable than their foreign counterparts and footballers can push through transfers by refusing to turn up to their jobs.

Manchester City have splurged a striking amount of money on an unproven player but, on the other side of the argument, Liverpool have lost credibility by selling. Only a few short months ago Brendan Rodgers was adamant that Sterling would be staying put. "We've made our position clear from the beginning and the owners are very much supportive of that," said Rodgers in April. "Raheem won't be going anywhere this summer, even if there's not a deal agreed." Rodgers' big words made for big headlines at the time but they're giving him big headaches now. For the second season in a row, the Liverpool manager is waving goodbye to his best player.

Rodgers tried to replace Luis Suárez last summer by colonising the Southampton team that had been so successful the year before, and he seems intent on scattering his millions far and wide again this year. He has bought Roberto Firmino for £29m, Nathaniel Clyne for £12.5m, Danny Ings for around £6.5m and Joe Gomes for £3.5m, as well as bringing in James Milner and Adam Bogdan on free transfers. Each of them is worthy of a place in Liverpool's first-team squad, but none of them are likely to turn matches the way Sterling can. City have gambled a lot of money on a 20-year-old, but they have also acquired England's most exciting young player. Time will tell which club did better from the deal – and Sterling has a long career ahead of him to prove the doubters wrong. 

Will he be worth the money?