Liverpool star Raheem Sterling was snubbed by FOUR Premier League London clubs before he arrived at Anfield.
The teenager left Queens Park Rangers back in 2012, and had the chance to join either; Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur or Fulham, but the quartet all turned down the winger, leaving Liverpool the chance to sign him for just £500,000, which could rise to £5million based on appearances.
The England international was being tracked and scouted by the four London clubs, but all of them thought better of it and decided to withdraw their interest.
According to QPR’s youth coach, Sterling’s behaviour and background was the reason behind the four clubs snubbing him, before Liverpool decided to snap him up.
“Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, they all knew about Raheem. But their attitude was: ‘Too small, too much baggage’,” said Kevin Gallen.
“At the time, I wanted him to stay at QPR. I persuaded the reserves to give him his debut at 15 so he’d feel he was being fast-tracked. But at one meeting, after training, Raheem said ‘Steve, I have to go’.
“I could see how genuinely upset he was and I thought, ‘I can’t do that to a kid’, so we reluctantly agreed to listen to offers.
“Now, with hindsight, I can see it was the right thing for him to leave, as much for a change in environment off the pitch.”
Sterling has now become one of Liverpool’s key-assets and helped the Merseyside club over-come his old side, QPR, on Sunday in a 3-2 win.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
