Arsene Wenger Names Raheem Sterling Among His Player of the Year Choices

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has picked out Liverpool's Raheem Sterling as one of two candidates for Player of the Year, fuelling speculation that the Gunners boss' admiration of the player will lead to a bid in the summer transfer window.

Thursday saw the nominees released for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, with Sterling not included on the shortlist, although he is up for the Young Player award, per Squawka:

Sterling's omission from the shortlist for the main award came as no great surprise. While the 20-year-old has had his moments for the Reds this season, scoring seven and assisting seven in the Premier League per WhoScored.com, he has been very inconsistent.

However, Wenger has clearly been impressed, as he put Sterling alongside Chelsea's Eden Hazard when asked to name a player of the year outside of his own team, per John Cross in the Mirror: "Hazard…. Sterling…. Maybe I forget some. Maybe Hazard."

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Sterling is currently embroiled in an ongoing standoff with Liverpool over a renewal to his contract, and speculation has been rife that he may depart Anfield in the summer, per BBC Sport's Ben Smith.

Arsenal are one of the teams linked with the England international, and B/R UK's James McNicholas believes he could well make the switch to the Emirates:

Sterling's current deal at Liverpool still has two more years left to run, and he may stay at Anfield over the summer even if a resolution cannot be found in the talks over a contract renewal.

Undoubtedly, though, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers will have to fight off a number of top European clubs, and Wenger certainly seems to have Sterling in his thoughts.

He has been valued at £50 million by Liverpool, per Chris Bascombe in The Telegraph, an astronomical figure for someone so young and perhaps a large enough sum to put off the historically frugal Wenger.

However, the Frenchman has spent big on Mesut Ozil and Player of the Year nominee Alexis Sanchez in the last couple of years and could perhaps be tempted into negotiations over Sterling.

Sterling is undoubtedly a high-quality player, but he still struggles for consistency and would arguably benefit from staying at Liverpool for a few more seasons under Rodgers.

The lure of the Champions League may see him move on this summer, though, and north London could well be his destination.