Sterling’s great revival

– From the “hated one” to the hero of Manchester City’s record-setting run, Raheem Sterling (above) has come a long way in the last 18 months.

When Sterling arrived for pre-season training with City, the England winger faced an uncertain future amid talk Arsenal wanted to sign him as part of a deal that would send Alexis Sanchez to Manchester.

Being mooted as a makeweight in a deal that eventually fell through was hardly an encouraging sign for Sterling, who had struggled to live up to the hype after his £45 million move from Liverpool in 2015.

Sterling has become so essential to City’s success that when his team face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League tonight, he could find himself in the privileged position of being rested by Pep Guardiola ahead of Sunday’s crunch derby clash at title rivals Manchester United.

He has two years left on the £180 000-per-week deal he signed in 2015.

But City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners are reported to be lining up a £300 000-per-week contract that would make him the Premier League’s highest paid player.

Should Sterling sign that deal, it would complete a remarkable reversal of fortune for a player who became a target for social media abuse during his acrimonious departure from Liverpool and again following England’s Euro 2016 exit.

He emerged from that torrid period thanks to a a helping hand from Guardiola, who insisted the youngster must limit his social media presence and focus on his career instead.

“He’s a nice guy, loved in the locker room, stable, less into social media, more focused on football and his private life. That’s good,” Guardiola said recently.

Yet Guardiola refuses to take credit for Sterling’s resurgence, praising the player for knuckling down and maximising the potential he showed with Liverpool.

“I didn’t discover Raheem. He did that at Liverpool, he played amazing,” he said. – AFP

London

He’s a nice guy, loved in the locker room, stable, less into social media, more focused on football and his private life. That’s good’

Pep Guardiola, the Man City manager on Raheem Sterling.