You naively, romantically believed it had to happen at some point, but those anytime scorer bets you had on Raheem Sterling during the World Cup never did come off, did they? Shame.

Oh well. At least Raheem can now return to the comforting bosom of club football, where he scores goals for fun and everyone at Manchester City loves him.

Or do they?

Today’s Mirror reports that there is no respite from the haters for the 25-year-old forward, who the Premier League champions are willing to sell following his failure to sparkle in Russia.

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Sterling had been holding out for an improved contract at the Etihad, but he shelved negotiations ahead of Russia 2018 because he naively, romantically believed his “stock would rise” during the tournament and City would subsequently pay him whatever he wanted due to rival interest from “big foreign clubs”.

However, this “gamble” has allegedly backfired. No one has heard a peep from the big foreign clubs and City are now taking a “hardline stance” with Sterling by refusing to increase his £170,000-a-week wage.

If he doesn’t agree to the club’s terms, he will reportedly be offloaded next summer, one year before his current contract expires. Of course, that could all change if Sterling bags a hat-trick in his next England match. Got to be worth a flutter, right?

Ousmane Dembele linked with Arsenal

Something suggests Ousmane Dembele’s agent is trying to get his client a move. Yesterday the Barcelona forward was allegedly being offered to Chelsea in part-exchange for Eden Hazard. Today, he’s on his way to Arsenal.

The Express says the young Frenchman will be allowed to leave the Nou Camp for the Emirates, but only if the Gunners agree to take him on loan rather than buying him outright.

Arsenal will certainly have space in their squad according to the Mirror, which says new manager Unai Emery is set to “axe” seven players before the end of the transfer window: specifically Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal, Petr Cech, David Ospina, Danny Welbeck, Lucas Perez and Carl Jenkinson.

Oh no Unai, not Carl Jenkinson. Have a heart!

Chelsea target Gianluigi Donnarumma

Chelsea’s search for a goalkeeper to replace the probably-leaving Thibaut Courtois has led them to AC Milan prodigy Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The Standard says the 19-year-old Italian is on a “three-man shortlist” with Kasper Schmeichel and the aforementioned Cech, although possibly boosting Donnarumma’s case is the fact Milan are keen to take misfiring Blues striker Alvaro Morata to the San Siro in a swap deal.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has told the club he wants to leave this summer and seek his fame and fortune elsewhere, reports the Sun. The Eagles have put a £70m price tag on the 25-year-old’s head and will leave it to rival suitors Everton and Borussia Dortmund to fight for his affections.

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The Toffees are hoping Palace might be swayed by their offer to send former Selhurst Park favourite Yannick Bolasie back to south London as a like-for-like replacement for Zaha (Mirror).

Elsewhere, Chelsea midfielder Willian still wants to leave Stamford Bridge despite the arrival of new manager Maurizio Sarri (Sun), Fulham have increased their offer for Espanyol’s Spanish midfielder David Lopez from a very specific £13.41m to an equally specific £17.88m (El Mundo) and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is wanted by the Japanese FA to take over the country’s national team (Mail). Let’s hope they’ve got a commanding centre-back and a solid holding midfielder in their squad.