OUTCAST TO OUTSTANDING

Sterling faced an uncertain future in the summer but now he’s City’s man for a crisis

BACK in August Pep Guardiola was handed the opportunity to end Raheem Sterling’s Manchester City career.

Now as winter bites the England forward is title -chasing City’s talisman – their go-to-man to in any moments of crisis.

With 13 goals in 19 games, encompassing five critical late strikes and an amazingly successful finishing rate which has helped propel City eight points clear of the Premier League chasing pack, Guardiola is the winner and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger the loser.

No wonder talks are in progress to improve Sterling’s current contract.

Although Guardiola insisted the improvement in the goals department is down to the player he allowed himself a rueful smile when he is reminded his pursuit of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez could have ended in the last transfer window if Sterling had been thrown into the deal.

“We were clear when Arsenal wanted him we said, ‘No, that’s not going to happen’,” he revealed.

“He’s still young and we hope to make him happy so that he can stay for longer.”

On his goals surge he added: “All the credit to him. All the managers want to help their players because if they play bad we’ll be sacked.

“All the credit is Raheem’s. Of course I believe in him.

“But I also believe in the players who don’t play regularly – Ilkay Gundogan, Danilo, Bernardo

Silva. I didn’t discover Raheem, the player he is. The quality is his talent. He did it at Liverpool.

“He played amazing and that’s why City paid a lot of money for him.”

The only worry on the Sterling front according to Guardiola is his fondness of utilising social media which the City boss feels makes him a target for the trolls.

“Of course they are free to do whatever they want,” he added. “People criticise you because you show a picture. People can criticise your family. Nobody needs to know what they are doing in their private lives.

“There is no rule but there is advice. If the reason why he’s scoring more goals was that he was out of social media then I’d say to all the players forget it!

“But I know he was more active on it. Now he is more passive.” He’s certainly more active in front of goal with nine Premier League goals coming from 28 shots, comparing favourably to last season’s return at the same stage of the season of four goals from 25 efforts.

Three players, Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and Leroy Sane are just one booking away from an automatic one-game ban.

And with the Manchester derby looming next week a yellow card against West Ham could prove costly.

But Guardiola added: “I’m worried about the bookings but also about West Ham as well. In the last game I didn’t play David Silva from the beginning. I rotated and maybe I will again – nine games in a month is a lot.”

City face seven league games plus next week’s tiring trip to Ukraine for a deadrubber Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk and a League Cup match at Leicester.