Raheem Sterling: Liverpool star filmed apparently inhaling legal high nitrous oxide

Video has emerged just days after he was pictured smoking from a shisha pipe

Tom Sheen
Tuesday 14 April 2015 10:10 EDT
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(Getty Images)

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Liverpool FC have said they are aware of footage that apparently shows Raheem Sterling taking the legal high nitrous oxide and intend to speak to the forward.

A video, obtained by The Sun newspaper, appears to show the 20-year-old inhaling the gas in his living room before collapsing.

The gas, a legal high, has potentially fatal side effects. The video comes just days after a picture of Sterling smoking from a shisha pipe was posted on social media.

A club spokesperson said: "We are aware of the story and intend to speak to the player. Any subsequent action will be taken internally."

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was expected to address the issue further in his post-match press conference.

Sterling opened the scoring for Liverpool against Newcastle with a brilliant curling effort after just nine minutes as the Reds kept their Champions League hopes alive with a 2-0 victory.

The film could not have come at a worse time for Sterling, who is currently in the middle of a contract wrangle with the club after turning down a £100,000-a-week offer from the club.

His agent, Aidy Ward, is holding out for at least half as much again – and given an interview to the BBC in which he announced he wished to play for a club that won trophies, he was heckled last Friday when Liverpool launched their new kit.

Sterling scored a fantastic opener as Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-0
Sterling scored a fantastic opener as Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-0 (Getty Images)

During the match, which also saw Sterling miss two very good chances, there were heckles of "Your agent’s a knob" that could be heard around the ground.

Brendan Rodgers said: "I will speak to Raheem and we will deal with it internally. I don’t think the incident was a distraction for him, you saw the way he played – the kid is very strong minded, he should have had a hat-trick tonight and his performance was outstanding.

"For me it is not something he should be doing. We want players here who are super professional but we know too that young footballers make mistakes.

Brendan Rodgers said it was 'not something that he should be doing'
Brendan Rodgers said it was 'not something that he should be doing' (Getty Images)

"We will fight to the very end to make the Champions League. We were on a great run until the last two games against Manchester United and Arsenal but, as we saw last year, there can be a lot of points dropped in the final few games. It is a very hungry squad with important players coming back but we are reliant on other teams to slip up. If they do, we have a chance."

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