Sterling and his City team-mates are facing a relentless three years of non-stop football and another spending spree from Pep will help them as they aim to grab the title back from Liverpool

FOR all of his talent, Raheem Sterling’s most important future-asset could be body management.

One look at what lies ahead for the Manchester City forward tells you that almost three years of non-stop football are on his horizon. And the 25-year-old is not the only one, with many of the City squad in the same position. But that could also mean a trophy-laden few years for those involved – a period that will require all the managerial nous Pep Guardiola possesses. Squad rotation, which the City boss often employs, is one way to handle what is coming, while remaining competitive. It will just have to be better. And despite being on the verge of spending almost £400million on his defence alone, Guardiola will need more money to ensure City can do it. They will need some luck with injuries, too, which has not been forthcoming in the last 12 months. City’s season could go on until August 23 if they achieve their dream of winning the Champions League this year. First up, is a second-leg tie with Real Madrid on Friday to see if they can get to the all-or-nothing knockout stages in Lisbon.

If they do go all the way then their season will have lasted longer than a year, having begun their Premier League campaign on August 10, 2019. The Premier League have promised a delayed start for English clubs who go all the way in Europe, but it will not be long for them before the new domestic campaign starts. There are also Nations League games at the start of September, and then next summer there are the rescheduled Euros. That means even less time for a rest before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, which may have to finish sooner to allow for an earlier start to the 2022-23 season. Why? Because FIFA are sandwiching the 2022 World Cup into the middle of the domestic season to deal with the scorching heat of Qatar.

Of course, that also means the 2022-23 season will finish later. Throw in an Africa Cup of Nations and a Copa America as well. Exhausted yet? Think of the players.

But that will not stop City in their relentless pursuit of glory. Guardiola is already building towards that. City have one of the deepest squads – in terms of talent and numbers – in Europe.

And they are about to add Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Ake and Valencia attacker Ferran Torres to their roster at a combined cost of more than £60m.

Guardiola will have forked out almost £400m on defenders if they secure Ake and it probably will not be his last expenditure on his back line this summer because they clearly are not good enough when injuries strike.

Aymeric Laporte played 89 per cent of the 2018-19 Premier League season as they kept Liverpool at bay in a relentless race to the title that saw them collect 98 points.

Last term, the centre-back featured for just 32 per cent as Guardiola’s rearguard cost them so often in the nine league games they lost to allow Liverpool to win the title at a canter.

As for Sterling, who scored 20 league goals last season, his minutes dropped only slightly, but his tally went up by three goals.

The demands on the England star are huge all the time for both club and country.

Sterling featured at World Cup 2014, moved to City from Liverpool in 2015, then played at Euro 2016 and the World Cup again in 2018, so it has already been a hectic six years for him.

And it is not going to get any easier.