Brendan Rodgers slams 'manipulative' Raheem Sterling agent

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has slammed the agent of Raheem Sterling and insisted that the starlet will not be sold this summer.

Speculation is rife that the in-demand 20-year-old winger could quit the Reds during the off-season after recently rejecting a £100,000-a-week contract extension.

Arsenal and Manchester United are among those reportedly interested in the England international, and Rodgers has accused Sterling's representative Aidy Ward of orchestrating the saga by manipulating his client.

"This is a young kid who has been advised to do something else," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror. "You're not a 20-year-old boy who picks up the phone and asks to speak to the BBC. Him in particular.

"He just wants to play his football. He can develop over these next years at Liverpool. It is the job of his advisers to look what possibilities may be beyond that. But with two and a half years left he won't be going anywhere in the summer, that's for sure.

"We will sit with his representatives and hopefully find a solution in the summer."

Sterling started Liverpool's 4-1 defeat to the Gunners on Saturday afternoon, and subsequently won praise from his manager for his performance.

Sports Mole has examined the battle to land his services in the summer.