IF YOU’RE UNHAPPY HERE RAHEEM, THE DOOR IS THAT WAY
Pep wants Sterling to fight for more game time but insists he’s free to go if he feels he’s being underused
PEP GUARDIOLA has told Raheem Sterling he is free to leave Manchester City if he feels he is not playing enough.
Sterling, who has started just two of City’s seven Premier League games this season, said he was open to playing elsewhere if it meant getting more game time, as the Mirror revealed yesterday (right). The England forward is in the final two years of his contract, but has put talks with City on ice as he considers his options. Real Madrid and Barcelona are monitoring his situation. Guardiola told Sterling he cannot guarantee him the playing time he wants and challenged the 26-year-old to prove he deserves to start more games.
The City boss said: “We are in the free world and the players can say whatever they want, when they want.
“I don’t know if he wants to play more game time like
Riyad Mahrez, who doesn’t play and doesn’t complain, like Joao Cancelo, who doesn’t play and he doesn’t complain.
“Some players complain because they want to play all the time. But I cannot assure them and I spoke to them many times about that.
“They always have to speak on the pitch. Not Raheem, all of them. What I want from Raheem and everyone is that they’re satisfied to be here and delighted to be in this club.
“If that’s not the case, they’re free to take the best decision for the player and their family.
“If any of these players aren’t satisfied, it’s so simple, with their agents, to go to the club and say ‘I’m not happy, I want to leave’ – and we’re going to find a solution, I’m pretty sure of that.”
Sterling has been one of City’s most influential players in recent years, helping the club to win three Premier League titles, four League Cups and the FA Cup.
He has scored 115 goals in 302 appearances for City, but Guardiola warned Sterling his past achievements count for nothing when it comes to determining how often he plays.
“What you’ve done in the past is the past,” said the Spaniard.
“The important thing is what you have to do tomorrow, not the four Carabao Cups we won in a row or the three Premier Leagues we won in the last four years or the final of the Champions League last season.
“This is the past. I don’t select the players for what they’ve done in the past.
“It’s today, how you train today, how we’re going to play tomorrow – this is the important thing.
“So when you get the opportunity to play, show me. Show the world how wrong I was when I was not selecting you and then you’re right.
“The biggest athletes in the world, in all the sports, they speak on the grass. That’s where they have to talk.”