The winger remained behind as Brendan Rodgers and his players departed for Bangkok on their pre-season tour of south-east Asia and Australia after talks between the clubs reached an advanced stage.
Agreement was eventually struck on Sunday afternoon on a deal which will cost City an initial £44m, with a further £5m due in add-ons.
The player is now formally free to discuss personal terms and undertake medical checks with his new employers. A long-term contract worth around £200,000 a week has in effect already been agreed.
Confirmation of the agreement brings to a conclusion one of the more protracted and acrimonious transfer stories of the summer.
Two previous bids – the first offering an initial £25m rising to £30m, and the second £35m with add-ons to take the deal closer to £40m – had been knocked back by Liverpool, with those additional clauses and payments largely dependent upon City winning silverware.
Yet, while Liverpool had expressed a desire to retain the England international, there was an acceptance that Sterling’s relationship with the club had deteriorated markedly over the course of last season once talks over a new contract at Anfield, which were initiated last October, quickly ran aground.
The player subsequently rejected a proposed deal worth £100,000 a week in March and has appeared destined to leave ever since after five years, 129 appearances and 23 goals for the club.
The 20-year-old still played 52 times last term but had made clear to Rodgers his desire to depart. The issue was brought to a head on the first day of pre-season, last Monday, when he requested to be omitted from the party for the two-week tour of Thailand, Malaysia and Australia
Liverpool informed the player that he would be the subject of disciplinary action if he did not fulfil his club commitments but Sterling then called in sick twice last week, missing two days of training at
Melwood, amid suggestions the Professional Footballers’ Association might have to be called in as peacemaker.
The player, who was under contract at Anfield until 2017, was at the club’s training ground on Sunday morning but was told he would not be travelling after City tabled their third offer on Friday night.
That had sparked further talks over the weekend before the resolution. Liverpool are now expected to re-enter the transfer market with the money generated by Sterling’s sale. The Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke remains a long-standing target.
The youngster will become City’s first significant signing of the summer as Manuel Pellegrini’s side attempt to recruit more homegrown players to bolster their options after the departures of Frank
Lampard, Micah Richards, James Milner, Scott Sinclair and Dedryck Boyata this summer.
Their attempts to add Villa’s Fabian Delph to their squad, having activated the £8m buyout clause in the midfielder’s contract, were thwarted on Saturday when the player declared his intention to remain at the Birmingham club.
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