Gerrard Told Raheen Sterling "To Be A Man"

 England international, Steven Gerrard has blasted former Liverpool teammate, Raheem Sterling "to be a man" and handle his desire to move away from the Anfield stadium maturely after the player missed the first two days of pre-season preparations.

The 20-year old winger, who has informed the Reds that he doesn't want to play for the 7-time European champions has been Manchester City's major target this summer.

Liverpool began their preparations for the new campaign on Wednesday without Sterling who informed the club he was unable to attend due to illness and repeated that claim on Thursday morning.

"I'm not happy with all that carry-on and I don't think there's any need for it. They all need to be men about the situation," Gerrard told Sky Sports.

"Raheem needs to go in and speak to the owners and to Brendan [Rodgers] himself, tell them what he wants and go about it that way. You don't have to throw illnesses in and refuse to go on tour.

"There are millions and millions of Liverpool fans around the world who are itching to see Raheem Sterling in a Liverpool kit. So I don't think it's fair on them if he is behaving like that."

The 20-year-old's agent, Aidy Ward, has claimed all trust between his client and Rodgers has evaporated over the long-running transfer saga, while Liverpool are set to fly out to Bangkok on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Gerrard is in line to make his LA Galaxy debut against Club America on Saturday.