Manchester City Superstar Boldly Expresses Desire To Leave Club, Play Abroad
- Raheem Sterling said he was open to leaving Manchester City and possibly moving abroad
- The England winger has struggled to stamp his place in the starting XI under Pep Guardiola this calendar year
- This season, he has only started twice in the Premier League and says he is open to an “opportunity abroad”
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Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling recently made a damning admission about his future amid limited game time under Pep Guardiola this season.
Source: UGC
The 26-year old admitted he was open to leaving the Premier League champions and possibly playing abroad, having struggled to hold down a regular place under Guardiola.
While speaking at the FT Business of Sport US summit, Sterling opened up on his future, saying:
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"If there was an opportunity to go somewhere else, (for more game time), I would be open to it at this moment in time," Sterling said as quoted by Sky.
"As I said, football is the most important thing to me - challenges that I have set myself from a young age and dreams as well, to play abroad.
Sterling further said he did not make a big deal out of the limited playing time this season.
His most prolific goal-scoring season as a player came in 2019-20 when he scored an impressive 30 goals in 51 appearances across all competitions, including some key last-minute goals for his side.
Last season, however, he only found the net 14 times with performances that have seen him fall down the pecking order in City’s frighteningly rich squad as far as talent is concerned.
“Still part of our plans”
Despite only starting twice in the Premier League this season, Pep Guardiola has always maintained Sterling is part of his plans.
“He is such an important player, he reaches incredibly high standards and I have to tell him those are the standards he has to keep for himself and the team and I am sure he will return to that. I am optimistic he will have a very good season." Guardiola said in September.
England players abroad
Briefly News earlier reported that while majority of England players prefer playing in the Premier League, there are some who have taken their chances in other leagues.
The latest to take on this route was former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who left Stamford Bridge after the arrival of Lukaku.
Abraham has since joined Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma and is an integral part of the Portuguese’s team since the start of the 2021/22 season.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Tshepiso Mametela (Head of Current Affairs Desk) Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is the current affairs Head of Desk at Briefly News. He was a news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. Email: tshepiso.mametela@briefly.co.za
