Barcelona are said to be interested in a January loan move to sign Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.
Sterling has struggled for regular first-team football at the Premier League champions and has started just two of the club’s seven league fixtures so far this season, with Barcelona considering an approach to sign the winger during the winter window.
The arrival of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa has increased the competition for places at the Etihad, whilst the likes of Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus have all moved ahead of the 26-year-old in the pecking order.
Barcelona’s interest in the England international would be a loan move given their financial issues, but the Mirror are reporting that Sterling’s wages would not be an issue given the departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann last summer.
The Catalan side have endured a difficult start to the new season and sit ninth in La Liga at present, whilst the club have also lost their first two fixtures in European competition for the first time since 1972 after successive Champions League defeats.
Sterling is currently with the England squad ahead of this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary, where he will hope to rediscover the form that saw him star for the Three Lions at Euro 2020.
He has two years remaining on his current contract at the Etihad with no talks over an extension, and has scored 115 goals in 302 appearances for City since signing from Liverpool in 2015.
