Brendan Rodgers says that Raheem Sterling is not unhappy at Liverpool, despite the winger refusing to sign a contract extension with the club.
Sterling's present deal expires in 2017 and he has refused a new contract worth £100,000 per week. The England international now wants Liverpool to sell him in the summer, having become unsettled at Anfield.
The player's agent has suggested that his client will not sign a new deal, while a meeting at which Sterling was expected to ask to leave Liverpool today was cancelled by the club following public comments attributed to the Englishman's representative.
Rodgers was asked today in a press conference whether Liverpool can realistically hope to keep hold of a player who is unhappy. But the Northern Irishman was quick to insist that Sterling is not unhappy.
"I don't see Raheem as being unhappy", Rodgers said.
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"I think Raheem's representative made it very clear that they wanted to speak at the end of the season.
"So for us, our concentration is really on the last game of the season and then talks will take place over the course of the summer."
And Rodgers insists he has a good relationship with Sterling and the current contract fallout does not damage that fact.
"If he's fit, which at this moment in time he is, he'll be available for selection [against Stoke City].
"My relationship hasn't been affected at all with that. I've given Raheem an opportunity here to play for one of the greatest clubs in the world and he's taken that opportunity.
"For me it doesn't change my approach to him.
"I maintain he's a good boy, a good kid, who has matured very well over the last few years."
Liverpool finish their Premier League campaign this weekend away at Stoke and it remains to be seen whether Sterling will feature.
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