Raheem Sterling has finally revealed the reason behind his controversial Anfield exit which sparked anger amongst the Liverpool fans. The 21-year-old English winger moved to the Etihad at the start of 2015/16 season in a deal worth £49million.
But the move didn’t really pan out for the youngster as he struggled to get going in his first season for Manchester City. But since the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Sterling finally found his feet and is now showing his potential that had been missing for the majority of last season.
The Jamaican-born English winger is enjoying his time under Manchester City’s new manager after he was made a scapegoat following England’s disappointing campaign at the European Championships last year in France.
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Even though Sterling came ever so close to winning the Premier League title under Brendan Rodgers, the youngster claims that he could have only achieved his full potential by playing with the kind of talent that is available in the Manchester City squad.
“Have to play with the best to develop my game”
“It was just about the players that were here,” he said speaking with Four Four Two. “I could name 10 or 11 who have played at the highest level - people like Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Yaya Toure. “For me to develop my game I’ve got to be playing with the best and that’s why I came here.”
“When I was younger, I could always see this club growing and achieving great things. When I found out that they were interested in signing me, there were no second thoughts,” he said.
“I want to be fighting for trophies for the next ten years, and there’s no better place to do that than here,” he went on to add.
This is the job I love, says Sterling
Sterling received a lot of stick from the Liverpool fans after his surprising decision to exit the club accusing him of being greedy and lacking passion for the club that had given him the platform in the first place. But Sterling insists that it was only because of the chance to play with big name players that he had made that decision and that money had nothing to do with it.
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“It all came so thick and fast last year that I didn’t get much thinking time to myself," he said. “When you sign, you’ve got to move house, adjust to the city - there was just a lot going on. But I'm not making excuses."
He continued, “This is the job I signed up for, and it’s the job that I love the most. Maybe last year was a difficult time, but that’s all in the past."
Raheem Sterling played with the likes of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge during his time at Anfield.
The speedy winger has so far scored ten goals in 39 games for Manchester City and has also represented England in 27 international matches since 2012.
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