Manchester City and Raheem Sterling will reportedly wait until the summer to continue contract negotiations.
City initially opened talks with the England forward, who is contracted to 2023, at the end of last year.
The Star reports that Sterling’s change of agent is believed to be one of the reasons behind the pause in discussions. The 26-year-old parted ways with long-time representative Aidy Ward earlier this year.
City and Sterling are thought to be calm about the situation, with the club likely to meet any demands for a pay rise. Sterling is currently on £300,000 a week.
It’s been a season of milestones for Sterling, who scored his 100th City goal in September and has moved past 250 appearances for the club he joined from Liverpool six years ago, becoming the most expensive English player ever at the time.
He’s featured in 25 of City’s 30 Premier League games, as Pep Guardiola’s team canter relentlessly towards a third title in four years.
An unprecedented quadruple is still on, too, with an FA Cup semi-final tie with Chelsea, Champions League quarter-final clash with Borussia Dortmund and the Carabao Cup final against Tottenham all coming up in the next four weeks.
Sterling captained England in Thursday night’s 5-0 World Cup 2022 qualifying win over San Marino, in which he also scored his 14th international goal.