So it’s finally done. Raheem Sterling is a Manchester City player. But what do we actually know about the Jamaican-born winger?
We know enough about the 20-year-old to know he’s a very exciting prospect, an upgrade on Jesus Navas and the first of, hopefully, a string of high calibre signings for Manchester City. Footballing wise, we can expect a number of things…
1)
The effervescent winger is an excellent dribbler, as seen in many of Liverpool games last season, as he embarked on countless mazy runs whilst taking on shell-shocked full backs. His knack of beating a man is something every City fan has craved since Shaun Wright Phillips left us in 2011. Expect to see the recently crowned European Golden Boy do more of this in a sky-blue shirt.
2)
Lightening speed. His burst of pace is second to none and arguably the best in the Prem, followed maybe by our very own Kun Aguero. His pace will be invaluable when linking up with the likes of Silva, Aguero and co. And could see him score a hatful of goals.
3)
Another interesting feature of the Englishmen’s game is his crossing. As a fanbase we’ve become acclimatised to spaniard Jesus Navas’ lacklustre crosses that usually find the corner flag rather than the striker in the box- Sterling’s crossing is by no means the finished article but his deft, chipped crosses will be of immeasurable importance when the likes of Wilfried Bony play.
4)
Goals. You look at Sterling’s last two seasons in the Premier League and he has managed to notch himself a commendable 16 goals. Some may argue that this is a poor record for someone who featured so much in an attacking Liverpool side, but context is vital in his predicament. The guy is 20-years-old, vulnerable and bound to be naïve on-and-off the pitch at the start of what could be a clearly fruitful career. But let’s look at what he’s already achieved. Goals against top clubs like Spurs, Arsenal, City and that superb solo effort against Chelsea earlier in the season. His ability to beat a man and slot home isn’t in question and could be taken to a whole new level when playing for Pellegrini’s side.
5)
A direct style and pure want for an attack. As a fanbase one thing I’ve noticed has really bugged our fans is a lack of direct, bullish attacking play. Too often we’ve been lateral and decided to pass sideways- Sterling will buck this trend, I’m sure of it. In similar vein to the excitement we all had when first seeing Stevan Jovetic, his direct style was refreshing. Unfortunately for him he just couldn’t quite hit it off at City. The new man will bring an offensive air to a team that is ageing and in desperate need of someone of the attacking ilk and refreshing youthfulness of Raheem Sterling.
Sterling will don the number 7 shirt and has jetted off to Australia this morning to join the rest of the first team in our pre-season tour ‘down under’.
