The thing about being a want-away player is that in order to leave you have to have somewhere to go. Raheem Sterling has made it clear he's not super keen on Liverpool at the moment, and while Brendan Rodgers — and by extension the club ownership — have made it clear that the player is not for sale, the list of suitors for Sterling's services is getting shorter by the moment even if he was available.
Bayern Munich was one such club said to be interested in securing Sterling's services for next season, but reports out of Germany yesterday indicated that their interest has come to an end. Bild reports that Bayern brass did in fact discuss the possibility of a move to Bavaria with Sterling's agent, Aidy Ward, but the two sides mutually agreed that Sterling and Bayern are not a good fit. In Sterling's absence, Bayern are looking to find eventual successors to Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery in the form of Angel di Maria and Antoine Griezmann.
Sterling-to-Bayern was always going to be a fringe possibility, but it's a major blow to the Sterling camp in their hopes of getting the England international into a top, top, top side. The list of clubs Sterling has been connected with outside of England was terribly short to begin with, and now with Bayern off the table, all that remains is Real Madrid.
Last season's Champions League winner is, of course, still very much in the picture. Zinedine Zidane confirmed in April that the young forward was on Real Madrid's watch list — as any young developing talent in Europe would be — and rumours popped up last week that should Rafa Benitez take over Los Blacnos as expected, the former Liverpool manager hopes to lure Sterling to Spain. But if Sterling really does hope to leave Liverpool it's likely it will have to be for a club on the continent, and as things stand now there's only one option left.