Raheem Sterling Being Monitored by Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane Reveals

Real Madrid Castilla coach Zinedine Zidane has confirmed the reigning champions of Europe are keeping tabs on Liverpool's Raheem Sterling, explaining that the club naturally monitors the best football talents. 

France legend Zidane has taken the reins of Real's "B" team and revealed that Anfield contract rebel Sterling is one of the young assets Los Merengues are paying some attention to, per MailOnline's Charlie Skillen:

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We know who Raheem Sterling is, and of course we are monitoring him as a player. 

There are very few players in the world who can improve the Real Madrid squad, so it is going to make sense we monitor the progress of the best young players in the world.

We monitored Bale for over a year, the same with Isco and also Varane. 

We monitor many of the best young players in Europe, then if we feel they have something to offer Real Madrid we will contact their club and try and make the next step.

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Having held ties at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for well over a decade now, Zidane is well versed in how Real go about their business, becoming more accustomed to the administrative procedures in recent years.

It's high praise for Sterling to hear such an esteemed character acknowledge his talent as one of the best in the world, and Los Blancos would assuredly be able to best the £100,000-a-week offer he's said to have just snubbed at Liverpool, per Skillen.

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However, the greatest impact of the comments may be in convincing Sterling that his future does indeed lie away from Merseyside, with speculation intensifying over whether he'll desert the Reds.

Goal.com's Wayne Veysey goes so far as to juxtapose the winger's quality against that of two Manchester City players, predicting Sterling will go on to become an even more tremendous talent in future:

Zidane's comment also comes at an intriguing time, with Bale's position in Madrid having come under fire of late for a failure to produce on the scale that Real supporters would hope after forking out a world-record fee to obtain his services

Sterling would be wise to treat Bale's Spanish expedition as an example of the route he might take, although Squawka illustrates the England international truly is of an elite calibre:

A move to the Bernabeu is something that doesn't come beckoning every day and would be understandably tempting for one in Sterling's position, but it's a drastic transition to make for one still just 20 years of age.

For now, Sterling can merely be giddy in the knowledge that Real Madrid are watching him with interest—as will many potential suitors—adding yet more uncertainty to the player's future at Liverpool.