Raheem Sterling: The Road to Stardom

(Baonghean) - This summer, Man City broke the transfer record when they spent 49 million pounds to acquire 21-year-old striker Raheem Sterling from Liverpool. Will the Blues' record price for Raheem Sterling bring the expected value?

Sterling played impressively in the match between Man City and Vietnam. Photo: Internet

Record price!

Raheem Sterling was born in 1994, is a British citizen, of Jamaican descent. Starting his career at Queens Park Rangers, he was brought to Liverpool in early 2010, Sterling quickly demonstrated his superior ability compared to his peers. He gradually became important in the Merseyside Red Devils squad. In 2014, Raheem Sterling played extremely well for both Liverpool and the England national team. Also in 2014, he was awarded the Golden Boy (Best Young Player in Europe) for his impressive performances.

He is currently one of the most exciting players in the Premier League and is considered the future of the England national team. In the past two transfer windows, many European giants have been willing to break the bank to sign him.

Although only 1m70 tall and weighing 69kg, Sterling possesses extremely skillful technical qualities, so he quickly gained the trust of Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers. With his qualities, he soon became the leader of Liverpool's attack. In 2014 and 2015, Sterling continuously contributed many important goals to help The Kop have a series of impressive victories 5-1 against Arsenal, 3-2 against Man City...

After Liverpool parted ways with Captain Gerrard, Sterling was built to become the club's new symbol. The Reds' style of play was also built around Sterling. However, recently, The Kop has not shown the strength and aspiration of a champion, and has not found "worthy" stars, so Sterling's departure is something Liverpool's coaching staff cannot resist.

Many people still think that his destination will be Real or Juventus or even MU. However, The Citizen's offer of 49 million pounds along with other generous bonuses has officially brought Sterling to Man City. This price is making Sterling the most expensive deal of this year's transfer season and the most expensive English player in history.

What chance for Sterling?

Man City is famous for being a "grinder" of stars. The world's great players Robinho, Mario Balloteli, Dzeko, Jovetić... all failed to move to the blue team of Manchester. However, fans are waiting for a strong breakthrough from Sterling. Unlike the above seniors, Sterling understands the English football environment very well, understands the playing style of opponents in the tournament and can completely meet the harshness of the "kick and run" tournament in the Premier League... This will help Sterling easily integrate into the new club.

Currently, Man City coach Pellegrini is trying to build a new style of play instead of the ineffective 4-4-2 formation like last season. In the recent training session, coach Pellegrini tested the 4-2-3-1 formation and Sterling started in the role of left wing attacking midfielder. In the match against the Vietnamese team at My Dinh Stadium, the 3-man attacking midfield including Sterling, Davil Silva, Navas coordinated quite smoothly and showed a very high ability to change. Although it was just a friendly match, fans could easily see that the blue team was more dangerous when Sterling was there. In this match, he even scored a double to help the blue team beat Vietnam with a score of 8-1. This was also Sterling's forte position when he was playing for his old team. Last season, when playing in this position, the Jamaican midfielder achieved an average score of 7.73 (according to Whoscored), the highest among the positions he has experienced.

Not only that, if coach Pellegrini uses the 4-2-3-1 formation, not only Sterling but also other stars will be ready to explode. Besides, Sterling will also be able to play alongside extremely classy teammates Aguero, Nasri or Navas, something he cannot have at Liverpool.

With the above analysis, fans and experts believe that Raheem Sterling can absolutely shine in the Man City squad. And certainly, this star will go even further, the price of 49 million pounds that the Arab owners spent will not be a "flop" like some previous stars.

Duc Anh