Journalist Emmet gates is unsure whether Manchester City would be willing to sell Raheem Sterling to a rival but failed to rule out the possibility of the 26-year-old returning to Liverpool in the future.
Sterling came through the ranks at Anfield and spent four years in the first-team before making the move to Manchester City in 2015.
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The 27-year-old has won multiple trophies at the Etihad Stadium, scoring more than 100 goals in the process.
However, Sterling has slipped down the pecking order in 2021, notably during City's run to the Champions League final.
Recently, the wide man was an unused substitute for the 2-0 victory in the Manchester derby earlier this month, although he would start the next three games across all competitions.
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But the £81m-rated attacker, whose deal at City expires at the end of next season, has found himself on the bench on several occasions this term, with Pep Guardiola preferring the likes of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, and Gabriel Jesus up front.
Sterling has been previously linked with Barcelona, but according to Spanish outlet El Nacional, Sterling would prefer to remain in the Premier League because he wants to work under Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool already have an abundance of attacking talent in Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota, but Gates said that it's not impossible that Sterling returns to Anfield.
What did Gates say?
He told GIVEMESPORT: "I don't know if Man City would want to sell Sterling to a rival. His game-time is diminishing under Pep and in the run to the Champions League final, he hardly kicked a ball.
"He said he's not happy on the bench, so you couldn't rule it out. Football is football."
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Would Sterling be accepted back at Liverpool?
Sterling has been booed on each of his returns to Anfield, with the Reds faithful singing about the fact that he moved to City for the money, which suggests that he would need to win them over.
In his defence, City have won eight major trophies compared to Liverpool's two since he left Anfield more than six years ago.
But the Liverpool fans would surely point towards the fact that had Sterling stayed on Merseyside, they could have won far more than one Premier League and Champions League.
This looks a long shot, but it would be some spectacle to see Sterling back in a Liverpool shirt.