The rise of Raheem Sterling: City Centurion | OneFootball

“I try to do less of what I did when I was younger,” he tells the CityTV cameras.

“Every time I had the ball I had to put on a show or beat someone. Now I wait for an actual moment.

“You have got to save your energy for in and around the goal.”

It is a strategy that has reaped rewards for Manchester City’s newest Centurion.

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In a season in which Sterling has regularly put on a goalscoring show, he netted his 100th goal for the Club in the 2-1 win over Real Madrid, the latest personal achievement to underline his status as one of the most dangerous forwards in world football.

At the time of writing, he has scored a career-best 31 goals in 2019/20 and since the start of the 2017/18 campaign, he has scored a remarkable 79 times in 148 appearances.

For a winger and for a player whose record has regularly been scrutinised, it is an impressive return, but Sterling’s game is now, undoubtedly, all about putting the ball in the back of the net.

The Guardiola effect? Certainly, but the City boss has always deflected any praise back to a player with an insatiable appetite for improvement.

So what happened to the youngster who valued dribbling and trickery more than the goals that now define his career?

mancity.com spoke to those who played with or coached Sterling in his youth to find out more about the experiences which shaped him.

Read | The Rise of Raheem Sterling: City Centurion