The Guardian’s Barry Glendenning appears to have woken up on the wrong side of bed this morning. The usually reliable and highly-respected deputy editor suggested during the Football Weekly podcast that he expects Raheem Sterling to join Arsenal, with Theo Walcott moving the other way.
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Raheem Sterling – Theo Walcott swap deal
This obviously isn’t a new rumour, we heard it from the Daily Express back in April, but this is the first time we’ve spotted it being mentioned by a reputable source.
It certainly comes as quite a surprise. Manchester City are widely thought to be the favourites for Sterling’s signature (via the Daily Mail), while Brendan Rodgers has publicly insisted that he expects the player to see out the two remaining years on his contract (via BBC Sport).
However, Glendenning remains convinced that Sterling has his eye on North London: “The inside track a few weeks ago, which came from a very, very good source – a relative of Raheem Sterling – is that he will be going to Arsenal and Theo Walcott will be going the other way,” he reveals at the 22:40 mark of the podcast.
Let’s pretend for a moment, that this is true. What would be getting in return? Walcott has had contract problems of his own and his current reluctance to extend his deal past 2016 is supposedly down to money (via the Mirror).
We Liverpool fans could be forgiven for not wanting to trade one problem case for another, especially when Walcott is certainly no better than Sterling on the pitch. The Arsenal man might be six-years older, but his development has stalled in recent years, mostly due to injury.
Either way, the story looks as if it’s going to run and run. We just have to hope that if it is Walcott who replaces Sterling, that he can produce more regularly than he does now.