New Chelsea recruit Raheem Sterling would have preferred a reunion with Liverpool if the Reds had shown an interest in the winger, according to journalist Jacque Talbot.

The FootballTransfers.com reporter suggests that Sterling only decided on making the switch to Stamford Bridge once he knew that a move back to Merseyside wasn’t on the agenda:

“We heard from reliable sources that Sterling actually wanted to go to Liverpool before making the move for Chelsea. I don’t think Manchester United were a consideration, but what I heard is that in essence, Liverpool rejected him.”

It’s certainly a surprising claim by Talbot, and it does explain the reports a couple of weeks ago which did mention the Reds as one of Sterling’s potential suitors.

At the time, it was suggested that it was Sterling who turned down Liverpool, rather than the other round, but Talbot’s claim does seem to make more sense.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has five top forwards at his disposal in Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Paying £47.5m to bring in a sixth, who wouldn’t be guaranteed game time, doesn’t seem like the best use of transfer funds.