THE RAHEEM STERLING situation has just gotten a bit more interesting. Last week, the Liverpool winger said he was ‘flattered’ by potential interest from Arsenal so his knees probably buckled when he read Zinedine Zidane’s latest quotes.

Zidane is currently the manager of the Real Madrid reserve team but he also has a fair amount of clout at the club and he spoke very positively about Sterling’s ability.

“We know who Raheem Sterling is, and of course we are monitoring him as a player,” Zidane told the Daily Mail.

“There are very few players in the world who can improve the Real Madrid squad, so it is going to make sense we monitor the progress of the best young players in the world. We monitored [Gareth] Bale for over a year, the same with Isco and also [Raphael] Varane. We monitor many of the best young players in Europe, then if we feel they have something to offer Real Madrid we will contact their club and try and make the next step.”

Does that mean anything? Maybe, maybe not. As Zidane said, it makes sense for Real to keep tabs on good players but Liverpool fans still won’t like one of the biggest clubs in the world openly declaring that Sterling is on their radar.

One massive plus about joining Real Madrid would be that the 20-year-old would have a more regular use for this floppy piece of head-wear.

Sterling might even lend it to Zizou, if he asks nicely.

Originally published at 20.00

The latest Raheem Sterling transfer rumour could be the most ridiculous yet

One of Ireland’s best prospects is set to sign a new deal with a Premier League powerhouse