On July 14, Manchester City signed Raheem Sterling from Liverpool for a reported fee of £44m, which could rise to £49m, making him City’s record signing and the most expensive English player ever. The 20-year-old signed a five-year contract at the Etihad and was City’s first new recruit of the summer, although they have since added two further English signings, Fabian Delph and Patrick Roberts.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini was clearly delighted with the capture of Sterling and hailed the new boy’s pace and versatility as key to City’s attack:
“I think that Raheem can play in different positions – he can play as a forward because he has a lot of speed or he can play also on the wing. He’s a very young player so he has a lot of things to improve. I think it’s important for him to have a new challenge in our team where he will play with great players which will improve his game. He will also improve us as a team. I think that Raheem has already demonstrated what he can do as a player at Liverpool but he’s just 20-years old so he has a lot of things to improve. “It will depend how he works over the next few years but I am sure he will be very important in our team, especially for his speed.”
THE HISTORY
Born in Jamaica, Sterling moved to London at the age of seven and began his career at Queens Park Rangers in 2003. He spent seven years at Loftus Road, before Liverpool, then managed by Rafael Benitez, swooped to sign the youngster in February 2010 for an initial fee of £600,000, rising to £5 million depending on how many appearances he made for the first team.
Sterling made his senior debut for the Reds in March 2012, coming on as a substitute against Wigan in the Premier League, aged just 17. His first competitive Liverpool goal came later that year, in a 1-0 league win against Reading, and he would go on to make 24 league appearances during the 2012/13 campaign, scoring twice and registering two assists, or six in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game.
His big breakthrough came the following season, with Sterling flourishing alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge as Liverpool finished second to City in their bid for the Premier League title. He scored nine times and racked up five assists (seven in FPL) from 33 appearances, including the opening goal as the Reds beat City 3-2 at Anfield. Last season, Sterling registered seven goals and seven assists (ten in FPL) from 35 league outings, and regularly played as a centre-forward due to Daniel Sturridge missing much of the campaign through injury. His form dipped towards the end of the season, however, with his contract dispute affecting his on-field performances.
Sterling represented England through all the age-groups and made his senior debut against Sweden in November 2012. He had to wait until March 2014 for his second cap, but a man-of-the-match performance against Denmark helped secure his spot in the 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup. Sterling was one of only a few England players who left Brazil with their reputation enhanced, and he has since gone on to become an integral part of the team, scoring his first goal for his country against Lithuania in March.
THE PROSPECTS
Sterling’s debut for City against Roma yesterday morning immediately caught the eye. Not only did the youngster get on the scoresheet within three minutes of his first outing, his inclusion in the starting XI saw Pellegrini roll out a 4-3-3 set-up, allowing Sterling and David Silva freedom to roam the flanks.
Certainly, such a system would not only bolster Sterling and Silva’s prospects, it would ensure that Sergio Aguero will be utilised as a lone striker – a factor that strengthens the Argentine’s Fantasy potential, given that he operates far more efficiently on his own up top.
It may well be that Pellegrini also flits between his previous 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 formations in accordance with opponent but it’s already clear that Sterling’s acquisition affords the Citizens greater variety in the final third. Able to play on the flank or through the middle, he certainly looks likely to jump ahead of both Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas in the pecking order and is set to vie for our attentions along with Silva and Yaya Toure. Priced at 9.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, Sterling comes in cheaper than Silva (10.0), but slightly more expensive than Toure (8.5), with Nasri and Navas available at 7.0 and 6.5 respectively.
When assessing our City options, there is also the small matter of Aguero, however. At this point, it is unclear if the Argentine will feature in the Gameweek 1 trip to West Brom and with a clash against Chelsea the following weekend, many Fantasy managers are in a quandary over whether to include him in their initial 15-man squads.
Given that City’s schedule turns very favourable from Gameweek 4 onwards (WAT, cpl, WHU, tot, NEW, BOU), ignoring Aguero looks decidedly dangerous, with the South American an obvious armband candidate for those four home fixtures in particular. Having scored 83 goals last season – ten more than Chelsea – and having found the back of the net 102 times during their title winning 2013/14 campaign, Pellegrini’s side undoubtedly possess tremendous attacking potential.
Bearing in mind that the likes of Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez have been priced at 11.5 and 11.0 respectively, doubling up with Aguero and a relatively cheaper City midfielder certainly looks a feasible tactic over that stretch of matches, then, and if Sterling can carry on from yesterday’s display, he could quickly find a place in our five-man midfields for the campaign ahead.
