Pep Guardiola is desperate to tie winger Raheem Sterling down to a new deal at Manchester City.
“There’s no doubt we want him,” the City boss said.
“He knows, his agent knows. We want him. Txiki [Begiristain, City’s director of football] spoke with him.
“It’s clear since the first day I arrived we want him, but the deals are the deals, and the agents are the agents, and the players are the players.
“So, at the end, I don’t know what is going to happen, but I assure you 100 per cent that the club, myself like a manager, sport director, even his team-mates – we want him to stay longer here.”
On 12 July 2015, a deal was agreed for his transfer to Manchester City for an initial £44 million, with a further potential £5 million in add-ons, subject to personal terms and a medical, which would make him one of the most expensive transfers of all time. On 14 July, Sterling officially joined Manchester City, signing a five-year contract.His debut came on 10 August, starting as City began the season with a 0–3 win away to West Bromwich Albion. Nineteen days later, Sterling scored his first competitive goal for Manchester City in a 2–0 defeat of Watford at the City of Manchester Stadium. Sterling scored his first career hat-trick as City beat Bournemouth 5–1 on 17 October.
On 3 November, Sterling scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 1–3 win away to Sevilla.On 8 December, he scored twice in the final ten minutes of City’s last group stage fixture against Borussia Mönchengladbach, helping turn a 1–2 deficit into a 4–2 win and ensuring City overtook Juventus in the final group standings. On 20 March 2016, he suffered a groin injury in a 1–0 loss to rivals Manchester United, and was ruled out for 8 weeks.Sterling eventually lost his place in the starting lineup.He failed to feature in any of the most effective performers of the 2015–16 season, and was considered one of the worst signings of the season.
Sterling appeared regularly for Manchester City under Pep Guardiola for the opening matches of the 2016–17 season.He was Premier League Player of the Month for August 2016 after he scored two goals and provided one assist in three games. On 21 February 2017, Sterling scored the opener before setting up a goal for Sergio Agüero in a 5–3 home win against Monaco.
On 26 August 2017, Sterling scored the winner in a 2–1 away win away to AFC Bournemouth in stoppage time. He was sent off by Mike Dean with a second yellow after he celebrated among traveling supporters that had run onto the pitch.
Sterling made his senior debut for England on 14 November 2012, starting in a friendly away to Sweden. On 5 March 2014, Sterling earned his second cap and was named man of the match as England beat Denmark 1–0 in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium.
On 12 May 2014, Sterling was named in England’s 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In a pre-tournament friendly on 4 June, against Ecuador in Miami on his fourth cap, Sterling slid into Antonio Valencia, who reacted by grabbing Sterling’s neck; both received red cards for their actions. Valencia later apologised for his reaction.On 14 June, Sterling started in England’s opening group match, a 2–1 loss to Italy in Manaus, and was rated as the team’s best performing player by the BBC.
On 27 March 2015, Sterling scored his first senior goal for England in a 4–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley Stadium. On 9 October 2015, Sterling scored his second goal of the qualifying campaign in a 2–0 victory against Estonia, by which point the team were already qualified.He was one of 23 players chosen for the final tournament.
He was named in the 23-man England national team squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.