STERLING ‘REBORN’ AS GOLD STANDARD

RAHEEM STERLING has transformed himself from a national joke to a smiling assassin, according to Manchester United legend Andy Cole. But the Manchester City star can still become even more deadly once he learns to calm his mind to the pace of his body, believes the former Old Trafford gunslinger. You may think Cole (right), who still works for United as a club ambassador, might be reluctant to suggest ways in which the likely PFA player of the year could become even more effective for United’s rivals. But the Premier League’s third-highest scorer in history admits watching Sterling – whose City quadruple-chasers face Crystal Palace today – just makes him smile in appreciation. “I have a chuckle when I watch Raheem Sterling because he just lets his feet do all the real talking,” said Cole. “It was only three years ago, at the Euro 2016 finals, that he was the butt of everyone’s jokes because of the way he’d played with England and the fact they went out of that tournament. But since then, he’s just got his head down each season and now he’s completely changed people’s perception by what he’s done on the field. “Now, people just have to admire the goals he’s scoring and creating every week against every team he comes up against.

“But I do think he can become even better, which is frightening. It sometimes seems to me he thinks too quickly and his body can’t quite keep up with what he wants to do on the ball.

“If he just calmed down that little bit, took a breath, then I think he would get a hell of a lot more goals and assists. He’d become absolutely phenomenal.”

Sterling has already scored 25 goals this season, although after scoring eight in four games for club and country, he’s failed to find the net in his last three City matches.

That run has coincided with increased focus on Sterling as a player prepared to voice opinions on what should be the response of black players towards racism.