The stories linking Arsenal with a move for Raheem Sterling have been abundant in recent weeks.
The Liverpool man’s contractual situation has become an issue, along with that of Theo Walcott, so the press have been delighted to put two and two together and moot a potential swap deal between the two clubs.
And now, in an interview with the BBC in which he reveals he’s turned down a £100,000 a week contract from the Merseysiders, Sterling says Arsenal’s interest is “quite flattering”.
However, he goes on to say, like every player in this position, that he’s simply concentrating on doing his best for his current club and that he’ll consider his options in the summer.
While the interview is little more than a carefully placed bit of Sterling PR to try and quash rumours that he’s greedy or looking for too much money, it’s also a gigantic advertisement to any potential suitors.
Whether that will make him more or less attractive to Arsene Wenger remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure though, and that’s that you simply cannot lick your own elbow.
POLL
I like turtles
I also like turtles
We have a turtle already in the squad
That poll confused the turtle of me!
Out of me
So you no longer have a turtle?
I heard Inanimate Carbon Rod was a turtle
We do. It’s the Ox
We need two considering our injury record!
Who, Chamberlain?
I AM TURTLECUS!
No, I AM TURTLECUS!
I AM AND SO IS MY WIFE!
I’m blaming blogs for the neck strain I just got trying to lick my own elbow!
I think…… sorry must go, turtle head!!!!
You mean “Mutant Ninja Turtle?” or however Arseblog put it that day.
Quite flattering – hmmm, he sounds really keen….
Not.
It’d be pretty much “Sterling takes the piss out of Arsenal” if he said anything slightly otherwise. Either way, this is a no brainer – Walcott provides genuine pace which cannot be replicated by sheer training alone. Bellerin might be faster, but in the end, he’s a defender, and while he’s good going forward, he cannot just roam with attacking intent. Sterling is a budget oxlade-chamberlain. We don’t need him, and he does not offer anything particularly unique for our squad. He’s like mint chocolate chip as soon as the weather gets slightly warm – flavor of the season. I’m… Read more »
Sorry, I disagree. Sterling is a long way from the final product, but i think he shows pace, creativity and the ability to play in multiple positions. He has a football brain. I like Theo, but he’s now at his prime. This is the best he’s going to be. A fast winger who will occassionally grab or create a goal with his blistering pace, but who more often drifts out of games an is irrelevant. No football gene in his body. I’d do the swap in a heartbeat. And the poll seems to agree with me, turtles aside.
problem is are we calculating Sterling’s attitude/ego in all of this? He’s 20 and already playing hardball with contracts. That only gets worse over time I think. New poll: Sell Walcott (if he truly thinks he belongs as a top earner at the club) and use the funds for…? I’d say Reus would be dreamy or even a holding/central midfielder. I think we have enough attackers considering the players still out on loan. I’d still like to keep Walcott and hope he resigns, but I think Giroud, Sanchez, and Welbeck are starts in front of him so I can’t see… Read more »
I totally agree with ‘cagooner’. As much as I want Theo to do well in an Arsenal shirt. He just has not improved at all. He is exactly the same player now as he was when he was 16. During the post match analysis of Englands horrific performance against Italy, Lee Dixon made a really valid point about Theo. That he’s essentially been fast tracked from being 16 years old, to this point in his career now. During the majority of his professional career he’s hardly ever been seriously coached about how to play his position. I think its blatantly… Read more »
All this talk about football brain is BS. There is no way in this world anyone can play professional football at the highest level without a football brain, go to 2 world cups and play a lot of champions league matches. The boy is not a winger but still out performs many wingers and forwards his age. Sterling looks good but if rather the Ox who can play more positions as good or better than sterlin. Theo is a good forward
To say Walcott hasn’t improved since he was 16 is pretty unfair on the guy, he’s a much better player.
How good he actually is, is debatable but to say he hasn’t improved is ludicrous
Imagine if he did actually have a “football brain”…his head would absolutely massive! Such a silly phrase.
be that as it may, how long is Theo gonna be the fastest? Raheem is still young and iwould say he has the potential to be a lot more creative than Theo. and hes not a slouch either. I always wanted to see theo come good, but I kinda have given up on that for variuos reasons. I don’t mind being proven wrong though and I have the feeling that Sterling aint gonna come to us. Whilst he wouldn’t be high on my priority list, i’d still take him. maybe good, that I’m not the gaffa, but hey.
Considering he is 6 years younger than Theo and just recently left his teens, I think Sterling got the potential to be special. He allready got way better technique and ball control, and he can spot a good pass, his acceleration is also on par with Theo, But Theo got higher top speed. By the time Sterling is Walcotts age im confident he will have surpassed Walcott on every area except speed. My opinion
By the time he is Walcott’s age he will be playing for City, Madrid or Barcelona not Arsenal
I would love it if we go and sign their marquee player and show them what we really smoke over in the Emirates…
Hell I’ll take Jordon Henderson too.
I like Chambo looking turtles.
I think Sterling will be an upgrade over Theo. I like Theo and what he brings (or doesn’t brings) to the team, but i reckon Sterling will be an upgrade in almost all departments. Plus he can hold the ball & dribble.
I like Theo but Sterling is twice the player already and he is only gonna get better.
Any fool can hold a ball and drool over it.
grass is always greener on the other side!
He looks good at Liverpool. He would look below average at Arsenal.
Thank God we had that third option in the poll
When Cesc, Nasri & RvP left and Theo renewed his last contract (not sure about the order in which they happened), I wished that we were able to hold on to the person who was at the bottom of my preference list.
Love Theo for all the goals and how he riled up the Spu*s fans in the cup game last year, but, he doesn’t have the same bargainin chip as he had during his last renewal.
Wouldn’t mind the swap at all..
“who wasn’t at the bottom of my preference list”
Sterling isn’t a direct replacement for Theo, their skill sets are different. He’s a replacement for people like Cazorla, Wilshere and Even Ozil.
Seriously?? Wilshere, Santi and Ozil are all FAR FAR better NO 10 than sterling. Besides he said he prefers playing in a front 3.
That’s entirely subjective, actually. Two different teams, two different styles, but Sterling was probably their best player for a 6-9 week period in the lead up to the Chelsea game last year with Suarez, Sturridge, Courinho and Gerrard (showcasing some of his best form in years) playing in the same side, at 19 years old no less. Rodgers set up the diamond, sat him behind the main two strikers and he was terrific. Now bear in mind, Suarez brought the very best out of players and he’s never been a 10 per se, but he can definetely play there. I’m… Read more »
Well based on how we play, Sterling is NOT an upgrade over ozil, santi and wilshere.
Trust me if wenger was INTERESTED in him, it’ll DEF not be as a number 10. He doesn’t have the vision to play there. he’ll be bought as a winger and to be honest, i’d take welbeck over him on the wing.
i would NEVER swap theo’s goals FOR sterling.
You spit hot garbage son. Sterling is not the player The Ox is. We have lots of great potential talents at the squad. What we need is experienced talented footballers to help guide the team not another ”great potential talent’. Can’t see how Sterling will improve our team. He’s better of going to City.
Though I have seriously high hopes for the Ox and don’t doubt his injury problems Have Impacted pretty substantially on his development, removing the Arsenal-tinted glasses I think Sterling is a better player. I’d pay £10m plus Theo happily.
lol
I’m wondering which version of football you are watching?
Wow. Just wow.
Not sure why you’ve been downvoted so much, you’re right. While Stirling can play a number of positions, his best position is behind the striker. It’s almost as if some of the people here haven’t really seen him play…
Walcott plus 20 millions for Sterling? I would be even more excited than when we bought Sanchez. However, I think we are about as likely to get him as we were of getting Suarez a couple of years back..that means highly unlikely.
Seriously? You are deluded if you think Sterling is even in the same ballpark as Sanchez.
That’s not what I meant. What I meant is that the chances of Liverpool selling their best player (Sterling now, Suarez back then) to us are quite slim. I really, really hope we get him but I’m not getting my hopes up.
Turtles Turtles Turtles!!!
Please noo…not even for a swap deal with Theo. We need Theo’s goals ALOT more than whatever sterling brings to the park(which goals isn’t one of them). We have alexis and welbeck who offer all the qualities sterling has and more not to mention the likes of OX and gnabry.
If theo leaves, get a scoring wide forward like pedro or fekir. Sterling is def NOT worth the 50m plus Liverpool would ask.
I like female turtles
Zooaphiliac
No idea how people think he is better than Theo. I think people are forgetting how good Theo can be.
he’s 6 years his junior and already has shown much more promise and brilliance, so yeah, I see why people see him as an upgrade.
He wasn’t off the pitch with a cruciate. Opinions go sideways when a player has been out for a while. Some go ridiculously up, some ridiculously down.
I do like Theo, but he’s extremely limited now that our system requires everyone to work hard. I’ve been watching theo “defend” all he does is run to the player and stop 2 meters from him and then just watches him. You expect someone with so much speed to occasionally harass or intercept passes but nope. You need him to do more especially when we play inexperience Ballerin or Chambers at RB. I am not asking him to work as hard as Alexis but atleast replicate 50% of his off the ball work.
I like turtles but Sterling would be a definite upgrade on Theo, sorry.
http://i.imgur.com/jg0uW.jpg – A random girl licking her elbow gives me hope that we’ll sign Messi in the summer
It encourages me to know that there are over 300 people like myself that couldn’t resist expressing their love for turtles.
The closest thing we have to a turtle is AOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_2QzUvLNDI&hd=1
Ox is injury prone – get the back-up turtle now! 🙂
Gnabry.
This rumour has legs. Not just the ‘little boy inside theo supporting lpool’ legs but also Sterling is very close to Ox and Wilshire and has family in London.
It wouldn’t be a straight swap. Theo only has 1 year left this summer to Sterling’s 2. Also Sterling is younger, more rounded and less injury prone.
Wenger would have to put up at least £15m on top I reckon probably over £20m.
I would still be ecstatic if it happened though.
Story entirely
I meant to say:
This story is entirely media-generated. Take it with a pinch of salt. Believe it at your own peril. Etc, etc.
What no turtle then?
Who cares about if he is an upgrade……turtles!!! Just turtles
TURTLES!!!!
How about we sell Walcott and buy a better player than Sterling? Every English player on the planet is massively overrated and overpriced.
When these new quotas come in, then those home-grown, English players are going to double in value. He’s also not a bad player.
I hate to agree with Mark Hughes about anything but the merits of meat pies, but he’s right. I can’t believe even the FA is stupid enough to actually put the 12 home grown quota in place, but if they do suddenly Sterling is gonna be worth 100 million pounds to English teams. P.S. Ironically the quota would probably harm England more than it helps because it would make it even less likely for English players to play anywhere but England. English players already hardly ever go anywhere else because they’re worth so much more in England; with the new… Read more »
It also means more highly paid English on the bench.
A bit over the top but I basically agree with you. And it will get worse with the new quota system too.
Exactly…why would we swap theo who when fit is a 15-20 goals a season wide forward for sterling?
If theo is leaving, get pedro who scores goals as well. We have the ox, welbeck, sanchez and gnabry who can beat a player…so no..it’ll be a waste of 35-40 to get sterling.
Rather get dybala for 25m.
First they said Wright-Phillips, then Scott Sinclair, and now Raheem Sterling…If you can’t see the pattern here then you’re the problem.
Didn’t they say Wright-Phillips because of Ian?
Dunno, but point is to not let the hype cloud your judgement.
Dat pic right dere shows him batting his eyelids at potential suitors. What a flirt.
Cock tease extroardinaire.
He lights eh fire zat berrrrns deeeep inside my soullll…
Oooh bebe…a beeg Rrrroaring flame zat cannot be extingwisht, but by ze watairs of heez lurv….
Reminds me of a time a girl flirted with me to make my friend jealous, we all lost
turtless are all over me!!!!
Is that his flattered face?
Sterling is going somewhere this summer. It’s obvious that he has a deal lined up and is not interested in staying at Anfield. Just like our Theo he’s playing the game of “let’s see at the end of the season” when he know’s full well that he’s going.
I’d love to see him at the Grove but I don’t think Wenger’s interested in him. Maybe City or Chelsea have tapped him up.
I was about to agree with two posts from Fatgooner in one day. I thought the world was ending, hell freezing over all that. Then I read the second paragraph about wanting Sterling at the Grove and the world was set right once again. Whew! (but you are probably right about City and Chelsea tapping him up)
Why wouldn’t you want us to sign a quality player?
I think there are enough reasons to justify passing on Sterling, firstly there is his lack of experience, he has had as many ineffectual games as good ones and if we’re getting a straight replacement for Theo we need a grown up and not more potential. Secondly, he’s a twat, that’s seriously an issue; he’s dithering over his contract, he seems to think he’s made it already and if he isn’t willing to be improved then we can’t improve him.
Would he be worth the kind of money he’d ask for? I’m not completely convinced, but we’ll see what happens.
Fats, what is your view on getting a back-up turtle in case the Ox gets injured?
Excellent idea! I know a terrapin who would fit the bill.
English terrapin? Just concerned about the price…
Hate to say it but I think Sterling is a slightly higher class of player. Theo is very good don’t get me wrong and his pace is blinding, however this doesn’t compensate for his lack of touch and reading of the game. Would miss Theo if he went though.
This poll is pointless. The true judge of these players should be who uses the Left-footed evoPOWER Football better.
Sterling is better than Walcott at being involved with play and tracking back, but is less clinical. He is not much more than a faster, weaker, ox. I’m very much of the opinion that theo should be sold in the summer but we should be looking for a genuine upgrade in that position (Reus?).
I wonder what we’d all be saying about Walcott if he hadn’t got injured against the spuds last year and had continued the form he was in. I think it would be a very different story. Give the man a chance to build up some form and momentum then I feel like we might have a very handy player again
Provided he wants to for a sum that is not in the stupid range. Fucking quotas.
I have to say the 2 nil gesture will always live in my heart
just got in…not had time to read everything…is it true we’re buying a turtle?
Let’s not dismiss the turtle plan just yet…if we did get one, he/she would make Per look a lot quicker! 🙂
Walcott all day!!! Sterling does not offer anything special for arsenal to waste their resources on. The writer of this blog has an agenda against Walcott and it will never work. Walcott will stay and retire at Arsenal.
Do you think a man can like turtles and want Sterling over Walcott ?
if walcott wants to leave i would only consider straight swap with sterling not a dime more, if pool don’t agree with that then I encourage wenger to go for reus if walcott wants to leave, and we would be there with one of the best trios, like neymar-messi-suarez, or ronald-benzema-bale how goud wood look this front four :
oizl
reus-giroud-alexis
i say that would be in par with henry berkamp ljumberg and pires, maybe even better.
It’s “Poo” not “pool”!!
If Theo leaves I’d rather see Gnabry given a chance. I like what we’ve seen of him until now.
Turtles is totally underrated.
I have a turtles head poking out….
Actually, quiet happy that one took a long time to surface! 🙂
Quite blx
Somethings wrong, I can only vote for I Like Turtles once
Sterling is quite simply a better footballer than Walcott….little chance of a transfer in my opinion, but what an improvement to our squad he’d make.
Thats simply not true, it is possible to lick your own elbow, met a girl called Erin once, made me a Steelers fan, then they won the superbowl, I digress, but she could lick her own elbow, I had a photo on my Nokia n7, back when memory cards were the size of a shoe& 32mb, lost it unfortunately, Walcott needs some time/ to play,after such a long term injury, rather have him over sterling
sterling is the flavor of the month but you’ll be fighting Man City for him as they will soon have fuck all English players after Milner leaves so will pay him more than we should be prepared too.
There’s alot of talk about this Depay being the biggest thing around, anyone seen him and think he could be the answer if Theo leaves?
I think Arsene Wenger would do the swap and his is the only opinion that matters.
Theo might not be at his best now, but he was absolutely sublime the season before he got injured and a major reason why we secured champions league football. The lure of champions league football that managed to get us a player like mesut ozil. You are all being blinded by sterlings one good season. For me sterling is a similar player to gnabry who before he got injured was talking about a full german call up for the world cup. Lets keep our head on our shoulders lads.. if we were going to fork out that sort of miney… Read more »
i think the reason people is turning a bit against Theo is because its seems like he is playing hardball on the new contract.
If it were me, Ox > Wellbeck > Theo in that RF position.
Would agree with that for the moment, but if Walcott gets back to his pre-injury level then I think he’s first choice
Noooooo sterling runs like a t-rex that wants to fly with his arms, i won’t be able to focus on anything else in the game
What with Walcott being a long term liverpool target and kind of a like for like with Sterling (just kidding, one’s miles better) id say a swap s
Is logically be on the cards. We’ll have to wait and see.
I think its embarrassing to swoon over a liverpool player on an arsenal blog. I hope Theo doesn’t read this article.
Navas plays just fine in cities setup. When theo was missing everybody was crying for him.
I don’t want Theo to go but if he does I would much rather the money ,and some ,be invested in a centre forward ,not someone similar like Sterling. When Giroud is off form or injured we suffer because we have no-one else like him and he is integral to the way we play.
I’d swap a turtle for a tortoise.
Nobody wants to play for Liverpool anyway. Suarez couldn’t wait to get out of there, Sanchez did not want to go, Balloteli went there because because Wenger thought Arsenal jersey wouldn’t look good on him and now sterling wants to leave. If you ask me Theo is playing the Rooney: delay talks, threat to leave and double the wage. Greedy sod but good player (when in form). The Italy game was his opportunity to show to Wenger he was ready for regular starts but went missing unfortunately. He will stay, I put my money on it