Manchester City set asking price for Raheem Sterling after rebuffing Chelsea’s initial valuation

Manchester City will not let Raheem Sterling leave on the cheap this summer with Chelsea needing to significantly up their £35million offer in order to land the winger, according to reports.

The England international only has one year left on his contract and is assessing his future at the Etihad, having been pushed down the pecking order following the arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.

Chelsea have been monitoring Sterling’s situation and were growing confident of securing a cut-price deal for the contract rebel, with a £35m bid ready to be submitted.

However, Sky Sports report that City have no intention of letting the 27-year-old leave for such a relatively modest fee and will demand in excess of £50m for the attacker.

Chelsea had hoped to use Sadio Mane’s looming move to Bayern Munich as a benchmark for their talks over Sterling, with Liverpool agreeing to sell the Senegalese forward – who also only has 12 months left on his contract – for just £35m.

But City will reject that logic due to their respective ages, with Sterling three years younger, and the fact they would be selling to a Premier League rival – and potentially a title rival too.

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With City expected to sell both Sterling and Gabriel Jesus this summer, the reigning champions want to receive in excess of £100m from the two transfers.

For his part, Sterling is open to joining Chelsea and keen on a return to London – having left QPR for Liverpool as a teenager – but is still assessing his options.

The winger’s massive wages means only a select few clubs can afford him