Stewart Downing’s rocky Liverpool career could be nearing its end…
Liverpool are close to selling 29-year-old former England winger Stewart Downing to West Ham for £6m, reports the Daily Telegraph.
West ham have lodged a £5m bid for Downing already, but the Reds want closer to £6m. The money will be nowhere near the £20m they paid Aston Villa for the winger two summers ago, but the club’s hierarchy wants to cut their losses on Downing as they did with Andy Carroll earlier in the window. The striker joined West Ham for £15m, two and a half years after Liverpool signed him for £35m, the highest fee ever spent on an English footballer.
After a terrible first season at the club, where Downing failed to register a single league goal or assist, he staged somewhat of a resurrection in the second half of last season, after winning his place back from teenager Raheem Sterling.
Although Downing has indicated he is prepared to stay and fight for his place at Anfield, he may see the lure of first-team football in London as strong enough to sign for the Hammers. Liverpool have already signed Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas in attacking midfield positions, and with the impressive pre-season form of Coutinho, Jordon Ibe and Sterling; his chances at Liverpool may be limited.
Downing will be hoping that an impressive season in London may bring him back into contention for a sport in Roy Hodgson’s England squad, ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
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