The rebirth of Sterling

Raheem Sterling looks much improved under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Ahead of the game at Celtic that sees Sterling reunited with Brendan Rodgers, the manager who gave him his debut, Adam Bate looks at how the winger has kicked on again this season…

“Reborn,” Raheem Sterling told Sky Sports after a 3-1 win over West Ham last month in which he scored twice. “I keep seeing that word.” Keep playing like this and the Manchester City winger shouldn’t expect to stop seeing it any time soon.

As well as that brace against West Ham, Sterling has also scored in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth and added a further goal – the pick of the bunch – in another 3-1 victory at Swansea on Saturday. It was the work of a young man playing with real confidence.

Sterling could be forgiven for feeling the talk of his demise had been grossly exaggerated anyway, a victim of the relative apathy that engulfed Manuel Pellegrini’s final season at City coupled with the malaise that continues to afflict the England national team.

After all, Sterling did match his best ever goal tally in his first season following his £49m move from Liverpool. Perhaps that price tag alone explains why progress – and nothing but progress – seems to be tolerated from a player who is still only 21 years old.

It was, as Sterling suggested, a “bit unfair” but only in the context of the huge expectations his talent encourages. With pace and trickery at his disposal, Sterling has a knack of gliding beyond opponents and a fragile frame that hints at a potential for vast improvement.

He’d given rather more than a glimpse of his capabilities under Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, playing his part in the team’s tilt at the title in 2013/14. This week he’ll face the man who gave him his professional debut as City take on Celtic in the Champions League.

Rodgers agrees that Sterling’s career has “drifted” in recent times but, tellingly, suggests that such a state of affairs will not continue. “You can see he’s being coached,” said the Celtic boss. And that’s surely the crux of it where Sterling is concerned.

Pep Guardiola’s arrival at City means many things for the Premier League this season, but among the more interesting prospects is the world’s premier coach working with the most exciting talents in the country.

Much of the initial excitement has focused on how a ball-playing defender such as John Stones might flourish, but the early indications are that the future for Sterling could be every bit as intriguing. Right from the outset, Guardiola identified him as a …

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