'Manchester City have paid £49m for potential'... Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and more react to Raheem Sterling deal 

By Richard Arrowsmith for MailOnline

Published: 18:17 EST, 12 July 2015 | Updated: 04:06 EST, 13 July 2015

With Raheem Sterling set to finally complete his protracted move from Liverpool to Manchester for an incredible fee of £49million, the football world has reacted with a mixture of shock and delight.

Following two failed bids, a refusal to leave on the club's pre-season tour of Asia and missed training sessions, the 20-year-old will become the most expensive British signing by a Premier League club once he completes a medical and agrees personal terms.

Despite playing fewer than 100 league games, Sterling will become the sixth most expensive signing in football history, which most have found difficult to comprehend.

Manchester City had a third bid of £49m accepted for the England winger last weekend

Manchester City have had a third bid of £49m agreed for Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling

A mock-up of how Sterling may look in a Manchester City kit now his move has been confirmed 

A mock up of how Sterling may look once he completes his move to the Etihad Stadium

Sterling will miss Liverpool's pre-season tour
Brendan Rogers jets off without Sterling

Sterling was left behind as Brendan Rodgers (right) took his team on their pre-season tour of Asia 

Sportsmail columnist and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was one of the first to react on social media, saying: 'I wish Lfc bought players as well as they sold them!!' - which could be a reference to Brendan Rogers' failure to reinvest the proceeds of Luis Suarez's sale wisely.

The Reds icon went on to say: 'Raheem Sterling is a very good young player but he has not yet hit the heights of an Owen, Rooney, Fowler or Giggs'. 

Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand said that City were paying for 'potential' and warned Sterling that he would be under huge scrutiny to prove' himself  'due to the way he left LFC & fee'.

Other members of the football world to comment included former players John Aldridge, Jason McAteer and Terry McDermott.

Aldridge tweeted: 'Thank god that saga is all done and dusted with.He gets his 150k-a-week and his agent gets his pension! We need a proven scorer now!'

McAteer, meanwhile, added: 'Rodwell Sinclair... Sterling! Should always be careful what you wish for #bench'

Terry McDermott said: 'So effectively its £49m plus James Milner for Sterling from Manchester City....fantastic business for us.'

Sterling competes with Manchester City defender Gael Clichy (right) in Liverpool's 3-1 defeat last season

Sterling competes with Manchester City defender Gael Clichy (right) in Liverpool's 3-1 defeat last season

Steven Gerrard has hit out at Sterling, saying there isn't any need for his behaviour towards the club

Steven Gerrard has hit out at Sterling, saying there isn't 'any need for' his behaviour towards the club

Comments (88)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now