Raheem Sterling could bank £4million cut of his agent fee should Manchester City meet Liverpool's valuation

Raheem Sterling could be in line for a £4m cut of his agent's fee should Manchester City meet His buyout clause set by Liverpool  at £50m.

Liverpool insist they do not want to sell Sterling, who is under contract with them for another two years, but are likely to accept there is no point forcing him to stay if their valuation is met.

City are considering submitting a third bid for Sterling that is likely to come close to matching Liverpool's valuation. However, City have made Sterling one of their priority targets after learning that he was not going to agree a new contract with Liverpool last season, resulting to Sterling being booed by Liverpool supporters at the end of last season and the level of animosity between the club's board and his agent, Aidy Ward, after months of bickering means there is unlikely to be any attempt to discuss extending his contract.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has tried his best to protect Sterling from criticism, but even he is now likely to accept the player's future lies elsewhere.

Sterling, who stressed this year that he did not want people to see him as a "money-grabbing 20-year-old", could receive as much as half of his agent's fee if the move goes ahead.

Given that agents regularly demand a fee that adds up to 10folds of the overall value of a deal, which includes both the transfer fee and wages over the full length of the contract, Sterling could receive around £4m in a one-off payment if City sign him for £50m and he agrees a five-year contract on wages of more than £100,000 a week.

Normally, it is only players who move clubs on Bosman-style free transfers who pocket large signing-on fees, but Sterling's arrangement with his agent is understood to be an unusual one.

Manchester City's two bids were rejected, but they have not moved on to other targets and need to sign another England player to bring up number of their home players  following the departure of James Milner to Liverpool last month.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will confirm the appointment of Sean O'Driscoll as assistant manager this morning.

He replaces Colin Pascoe as Rodgers' right-hand man, and will be joined on a new-look backroom team by the academy coach Pepijn Lijnders, who has been promoted to focus on one-to-one sessions with individual players.