Liverpool expect Raheem Sterling to ignore Manchester City’s advances and report back for pre-season training on Monday, when Sean O’Driscoll will be confirmed as the new assistant manager at Anfield.
City have had two offers rejected for Sterling this summer, packages totalling £30m and £40m, and have yet to make a third bid for the want-away England forward.
Unless they return with a deal closer to Liverpool’s £50m valuation this week, the 20-year-old will travel with Brendan Rodgers’ squad to Bangkok next Sunday for the pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia.
The bulk of Liverpool’s senior squad are due to start pre-season training at Melwood on Monday, including the former City midfielder James Milner, the first of six signings made by the Anfield club this summer. Rodgers hopes to add Christian Benteke to his ranks before their Premier League opener at Stoke City on 9 August but Liverpool are reluctant to meet the £32.5m release clause in the striker’s contract with Aston Villa.
The new £29m signing Roberto Firmino will not be involved in the start of preparations for the new season. He and his compatriot Philippe Coutinho have been given extended leave following their involvement in Brazil’s Copa América campaign. Danny Ings was also given a later return date after playing for England at the European Under-21s Championship this summer but has requested an earlier start and is likely to meet his new team-mates on Wednesday.
Liverpool are due to install O’Driscoll as assistant manager on Monday and confirm the promotion of Pepijn Lijnders from Under-16s coach to the senior ranks. Lijnders will focus on elite player development and may continue to work with Liverpool’s academy prospects. A new first-team coach to replace Mike Marsh, who was released at the end of his contract last month, is also expected to be appointed in the coming weeks.
O’Driscoll replaces Colin Pascoe, who was sacked following the end-of-season review conducted by the club’s owner Fenway Sports Group. The former Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City manager has spent the past nine months as head coach of the England Under-19s side and is free to commence work on Melwood, having finalised the terms of his departure from the Football Association.
Source: Guardian
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