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Raheem Sterling verbally agrees new Man City contract: These figures will blow your mind
RAHEEM STERLING is set to become the highest-paid British player in the Premier League once he scribes his signature on a new five-year contract.
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Talks have been ongoing for a while between Raheem Sterling’s representatives and, chiefly, Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain.
The forward’s current contract expires at the end of the 2019/20 season, but the new deal would keep Sterling in City threads until 2023.
Sterling was signed by the club in 2015 for £49million, and has gone some way to repaying that fee with his performance over the last 18 months.
The Englishman notched 18 league goals last season as Pep Guardiola’s side became the first English team in history to tot up 100 points.
Incredibly, the wage hike is double what Sterling currently earns, outlining the club’s belief and value of the 23-year-old
Back in August, Guardiola admitted he was eager to retain Sterling’s services amid initial talks of the player’s contract demands.
“We are delighted with him and would like Raheem to stay. We'll do our effort to recover him,” the City head coach said.
“We arrived after a difficult season and I told him I want to help him and want him to stay.
“But, in the end, the agents may not have agreements and that may not happen. But he knows we like him and want him a lot.”
It is now understood that Sterling has verbally agreed a deal which will see him pocket £300,000-a-week.
That amounts to an annual wage of £15.6m, which would reportedly make him the most handsomely-paid British footballer in the Premier League.
According to CNBC, only Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil (£306,250) and Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez (£315,000) take home more.
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Sterling’s new deal will also eclipse that of Kevin De Bruyne’s - City’s talisman - which amounts to £280,000-per-week.
Incredibly, the wage hike is double what Sterling currently earns, outlining the club’s belief and value of the 23-year-old, who has his prime years ahead of him.
The increase would make Harry Kane the second-best paid Brit in England’s top-flight, with Tottenham’s golden boy currently earning £200,000-per-week.