Raheem Sterling’s agent Aidy Ward commented that his client would have been a great fit in Jurgen Klopp’s team.

He said: “The new Liverpool manager probably would have been a great fit for Raheem — passionate, disciplined in the right way, new ideas, not afraid of trying new things. He’ll do great at Liverpool.

“Would Raheem under Klopp have been a good scenario? Yes, 100 percent, definitely, mainly because of the person Klopp is — the passion, the drive, the emotion, wanting to achieve.

“Raheem has all of this, but you won’t always see it outwardly. Working with Klopp — that could have been great. He’s going to get the best out of those players. It could have been a dream come true.”

He also blamed the former Liverpool Brendan Rodgers for being the main reason behind Sterling’s exit from the Anfield club.

He said,

“I have no issue with anyone but [Brendan] Rodgers,” he said. “He had a massive job with massive funds. How did he do? Good coach, but as a manager I didn’t like certain things about how he dealt with Raheem.

“Fifty percent of the players would probably tell you Brendan is not a good manager, but he is a good coach.

“Raheem could’ve stayed, he should be at Liverpool. I think for me it was like he was being told to be a good boy and sign a contract. In December, I spoke to Liverpool and said we’ll sign a contract if there is a buyout clause — those clauses are now common practice. They said no to that.

“Then there was an underhandedness, there were sly remarks. In press conferences, Brendan told everyone Raheem would sign — why do that? I knew, Brendan knew and Liverpool knew there was an issue. Right now he probably should be a Liverpool player, but he’s not and he’s in a great place at City.