Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling has opened up about his move from Liverpool to the Manchester club to BBC’s Premier League show. The Englishman made a much-criticised move to the Blue half of Manchester last season and stated why he decided to move away.
“I remember saying to my agent; by the time I’m 22, if I haven’t won anything at that time and if I’m not playing in the biggest competitions then I really need to assess my options.”
Liverpool had missed out on Champions League qualification last season and Sterling made a £49m move to join Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Even though the Englishman was one of the best players at the Merseyside club, many fans stated that the move was only for the money and not for a footballing sense.
“You want to make sure you are playing at the highest level and the best level.”
Wanted to leave Liverpool earlier
One of the other major talking points from his interview with the BBC was the fact that Sterling was plotting a move away from Liverpool ever since he was 15.
The attacker also stated that his agent was also in the loop as the pair prepared a plan for the future.
“I’ve never mentioned this to anyone but I’ll never forget when me and my agent were on our way to Liverpool on the train.
“At that time I was 15 years old and we were already talking about what we’d like to do after Liverpool if things didn’t turn out like we wanted.”
Liverpool are still a great team
Sterling might not be the most loved player at Merseyside but the 21-year-old still had a lot of love and respect for his former employers.
“I’ve always loved Liverpool and they are a massive team and a great team that helped my development.”
The Manchester City attacker also stated that he didn’t really expect the fans to behave the way they did after his decision to move away from the club.
“I had no big issues there at all, with the fans or anything like that so it wasn’t really the way I would have liked to have gone.”
This might seem to be a genuine response by Sterling but it does still raise a lot of pertinent questions about his time at the club. It is a little weird reading about the fact that he wanted to leave the club even when he was 15 and how he was willing to move away even though his development was not complete at Anfield.
A shining star for Guardiola
While Sterling did struggle initially after his move to the Etihad, his form under the new manager, Pep Guardiola, has been incredible. The 21-year-old has five goals and four assists in all competitions this season and is only getting better with each game.
Sterling is one reason why the Citizens sit atop the Premier League table and if he keeps performing at this level, he could well win another trophy with the club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT-U3f12g08
