Liverpool has named Rebellious striker Raheem Sterling in the 30-man squad for their impending pre-season tour of Thailand, Australia and Malaysia, despite his latest attempts to force through a move away from the club.
The unsettled winger returned to training at Melwood on Friday after calling in sick for two days and is now all set to board a Bangkok bound flight with his team-mates on Sunday.
A Liverpool doctor is believed to have assessed former QPR youngster at his home in North London, as per routine protocol, but the results are unknown yet.
Brendan Rodgers’ side is scheduled to face the Thai All Stars on Tuesday before traveling to Australia for matches against Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United on July 17 and July 20 respectively. The Reds will also play a friendly against Malaysia XI and HJK Helsinki on July 24 and August 1, respectively.
The disgruntled youngster has been at the center of a contract standoff with the Anfield club, who have rejected two bids worth up to £30m and £40m respectively from bitter rivals Manchester City for his services.
Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, and Jose Enrique have all been asked to continue their pre-season training at Melwood, as the club bids to offload trio in the summer transfer window.
As expected, new signing Roberto Firmino is not part of the squad, while Philippe Coutinho and Emre Can are given extended break because of international duty at the Copa America and Under-21s European Championships respectively.
Rogers have also named a few of the club’s youngsters to give them bit of experience with the senior squad, including defenders Joe Maguire and Dan Cleary, midfielders Jordan Rossiter and Pedro Chirivella, and highly-rated forwards Sheyi Ojo, Ryan Kent and Harry Wilson.
