Reports: Real Madrid interested in signing £50m-rated Manchester City star

What's the story?

Real Madrid's stellar form from last season has failed to continue into this season and they are currently occupying the fourth place in La Liga. Their rivals Barcelona, on the other hand, have enjoyed a great start to the season and the Catalans are leading the La Liga table by five points, with the likes of Lionel Messi firing on all cylinders.

Zinedine Zidane will have to reinforce his team if Madrid has any chance of giving Barcelona a good run for their money and according to the Sun, Manchester City's Raheem Sterling has been recognized as the man for the job.

In case you didn't know...

Raheem Sterling is having one of the best seasons of his career, in spite of the fact that he began the season on the sidelines. The English winger has scored 9 goals in 13 appearances for City and has even chipped in with 2 assists.

Perhaps most important of all is the nature of these goals, with Sterling often scoring important goals for City. On more than one occasion in the last few weeks, it has seemed like Manchester City will drop a point or slip up in the title race, allowing other teams to close the gap.

However, Sterling has stepped up in these situations, scoring crucial goals against Huddersfield and Southampton to secure three points in the dying embers of the matches.

The heart of the matter

Sterling's contract with Manchester City will keep him at the Etihad until the summer of 2020, but Manchester City are keen on increasing his wages and tying him down to a long-term contract. Sterling is yet to sign this new and improved deal, and the winger is reportedly looking to postpone contract negotiations until after the 2018 World Cup.

This is a good sign for Madrid, who will hope to sway Sterling's decision. This is not the first time that Real Madrid have shown an interest in the winger, with Los Blancos having been linked to him at the end of his Liverpool career.

Madrid will face some competition in their attempts to sign Sterling though as Arsene Wenger will try his best to engineer a swap move with City that sees Alexis Sanchez going to Manchester.

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Author's take

Raheem Sterling has had a couple of mediocre seasons at Manchester City, but the winger is truly coming into his own and playing some of the best football of his career. His stock will only rise if Manchester City can win the league and do well in Europe, and it's difficult to turn down Real Madrid. The move could indeed happen if Madrid make a serious offer before Arsenal do.