Jamie Carragher has admitted that he is baffled at rumours of Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling being used as a makeweight in a deal to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.

It was reported earlier this week that the Premier League champions had made a £100m bid for Kane, but they have also allegedly opened the possibility of using Sterling and Gabriel Jesus in a player-swap deal.

England's top Euro 2020 goalscorer Sterling is believed to be uninterested in a move to Spurs and his former Liverpool teammate Carragher has claimed that he should not be willing to join a team that is not in the Champions League.

In his column in The Telegraph, Carragher wrote: "I can't believe I have read some reports suggesting he could be a makeweight in a deal to take Kane to City.

"With respect, do people think Sterling is at a point in his career where he would join Spurs? Are they serious? If he was available, top Champions League clubs would be queuing up for him.

"There appears to be an undercurrent of cynicism about how good Sterling actually is, the under-par performances pounced upon as evidence he is not quite at the level of the world's best, and the high-class performances ignored because they inconveniently undermine the argument he is one of the two best English footballers of this generation.

"When it comes to being the most underrated England player of this era, Sterling is out on his own. Sterling's contribution (at Euro 2020) so far has not vindicated Southgate for picking him. They have exposed the folly of anyone who questioned his selection in the first place."

Sterling has scored 114 goals and provided 87 assists in 292 appearances for Man City, since arriving from Liverpool in 2015.