Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers "hopes" a lack of Champions League football won't lead to Raheem Sterling leaving. There are fears that unless Liverpool qualify for the Champions League he could be lured away in the same manner as Luis Suarez, who quit Anfield for Barcelona last summer.

"Hopefully that won't be the case," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo.

"We are a club that are trying to build something. We were on a path for a couple of years and of course we've had to come off that path since the summer, we've lost some players. And we're having to regroup again really.

"He's a real catalyst and a real talisman for this team.

"He's been a great example of the progress a lot of the players have made here - gone from a youth team player to becoming one of the top young players in European football.

"The club I'm sure will work very hard. Raheem's happy here and loves being a Liverpool player.

"I'm sure between them and the representatives that we can get a deal done that sees him go on and continue to develop what is an exciting career."