Blockbuster Deal in Place for Liverpool Winger to Move to Manchester City; to be Official Soon

It's just the medical and the personal agreement that's taking time for the transfer to get official. However, by the end of the day, Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling will officially be a Manchester City player.

The blockbuster deal has been agreed to, and the Reds starlet is set to become the first big signing for City this summer.

The 20-year-old has agreed to a whopping $102m (£49m) transfer from the Reds to City, subject to contract negotiations and a medical.

It is apparently the Citizens' third offer that has been accepted by Brendan Rodgers' side, after it was reported that two bids were earlier rejected. On the completion of the signing, the England starlet is set to join the list of the highest British transfer records.

The Jamaica-born player will be third in the list -- topped by Angel di Maria (Real Madrid to Manchester United- £59.7m), and seconded by Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea - £50m).

The transfer saga hovering over Sterling dominated headlines last week as the winger asked Liverpool not to include him in the club's pre-season tour this summer -- the two-week trip to Thailand, Australia and Malaysia -- because he was not in the right frame of mind to play for the tour.

This infuriated Reds veteran Steven Gerrard, who came down heavily on the youngster, asking him to leave Anfield.

Liverpool demanded £50million for Sterling in an effort to lure away the player's suitors this summer, but Man City had been determined to snap up the player.

The England international, who took up a forward role for Liverpool in the majority of last season, however returned to Melwood for the pre-season training last week. It was then that Sterling reportedly held talks with Reds manager Rodgers, and reiterated his desire to leave Anfield this summer.

Relations between the player and the manager were believed to have turned sour after Sterling rejected a £100,000-a-week contract extension last season. The current contract of the player at Anfield ran until 2017, and the deal saw the player pocketing £35,000-a-week.

In an interview earlier in March this year, City manager Manuel Pellegrini predicted that his club would need as much as £100million to snare Sterling from Anfield.

"It is important to have English players but can you sign them?" said Pellegrini.

"You are talking about trying to sign players from clubs that won't sell them. Let's say you want to buy [Luke] Shaw: £35m for a left back. I'm not sure about spending that much money when we have [Gael] Clichy and [Aleksandar] Kolarov.

"Can you get [Raheem] Sterling? Maybe if you go to Liverpool with £100m you can."

Pellegrini can now be rest assured about the deal for Sterling.

Liverpool, on their part, have shortlisted alternatives to fill the boots of Sterling. Barcelona winger Pedro is believed to be a possible target for the Reds, despite the forward signing a four-year contract recently with the La Liga giants.

The club have also got its eyes on Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, and it has been reported that the Reds are set to meet the Belgian international's buy-out clause of £32.5million.

Liverpool's squad have departed to Bangkok for the pre-season tour and are not due back on Merseyside until Saturday, 25 July.