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CITY and England star Raheem Sterling has revealed he often doesn’t leave his house in a bid to avoid any negative press.
The 23-year-old, who arrived in Russia with the rest of the Three Lions World Cup squad yesterday, explained in an interview the lengths he goes to stay out of the spotlight.
“I’m constantly thinking something bad will happen,” Sterling told Copa 90.
“I don’t even think, ‘I’m going out tonight to eat some food’ because if I go out tonight something bad is going to happen.”
Sterling also revealed that he is going to take this drastic action until his football career is over, adding: “Until football is finished, I’ll try and stay at my house as much as I can.”
The Blues winger has regularly found himself the target of negative media reports during his short football career, most recently last month when he was slammed on a national newspaper front page for having a gun tattoo on his leg.
He later revealed it was a tribute to his father, who was shot dead when Sterling was a child.
England manager Gareth Southgate also supported Sterling earlier this month, saying: “He knows he’s got our support, he understands how some people have perceived the tattoo.
“But in my view a tattoo is like any work of art. It’s a very individual meaning, the intent is all with the individual and the person.”
City special: Pages 49-51