I thought he’d be a bit of a d***head!
DE BRUYNE ADMITS HE WAS SURPRISED STERLING TURNED OUT TO BE ‘COOL’
Manchester City v Tottenham tomorrow 8pm, Spurs lead 1-0
KEVIN DE BRUYNE has admitted he thought Manchester City team-mate Raheem Sterling was a “bit of a d***head” when he first met him.
Sterling has emerged as one of City’s most influential players, with 21 goals and 16 assists this season as Pep Guardiola’s side chase an unprecedented Quadruple haul of trophies.
England winger Sterling, 24, has been just as impressive off the pitch, tackling the scourge of racism headon with his articulate and forthright views, endorsing his status as one of football’s most inspiring role models.
Team-mate De Bruyne, back from injury to help push City’s quest for a clean sweep, said he thought Sterling would be arrogant and flash – but could not have been more wrong.
“I’m a brutally honest person,” said De Bruyne. “So I will let you in on a little secret. Before I came to Manchester City, I didn’t really know what to make of this Raheem Sterling guy.
“I’d never met him and, from what I’d read about him, I thought he was going to be a very different character.
“I thought, well, I didn’t think he’d be a bad guy, really. But the tabloids were always claiming that he was arrogant. So I guess I thought he’d be, what do the English call it? A bit of a d***head, maybe?
“Raheem and I have this strong connection, as we arrived at City around the same time, and there was a lot of negativity about us. “They said I was ‘the Chelsea reject’. They said Raheem was this flashy guy who left Liverpool for money. They said we were difficult characters.
“Then I got to City and met Raheem, and we’d talk a bit after training, and I thought
‘Wait, this guy seems really cool? What’s the story here?’
“This is the real truth –
Raheem is one of the nicest, most humble guys
I’ve met in football.”