Raheem Sterling currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, having joined them from Manchester City for £47.5million in July 2022.
Sterling had been with City since 2015 after making a big-money transfer from Liverpool. The winger spent seven years at QPR's academy before he moved on to sign for Liverpool in 2010.
Sterling has spent the majority of his career playing as an out-and-out winger. But as he gained more experience, he has also been operated more centrally as an attacking midfielder or striker. He is flexible as a player and he is well-known for his pace and dribbling. As his career has progressed, he has become a much more clinical goal scorer as well.
The forward won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five EFL Cup trophies while at Man City. At the end of the 2018/19 campaign, he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year. For his performances that season he was also named in the PFA Team of the Year.
Sterling has done a lot of work off the pitch to fight against racial discrimination. In 2019 he was named Sportsman of the Year at the British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards.
Sterling joined QPR when he was 10 and he impressed in his few years in their academy. He subsequently attracted interest from the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. But in February 2010 he joined Liverpool in a deal that could rise to £2million based on appearances.
The 2013/14 season proved to be a big breakout season for Sterling. He struck up a great partnership with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge as the Reds came close to winning the Premier League. They would dramatically fall away at the final hurdle, but this was the season Sterling announced himself to English football with nine goals and seven assists from his 33 league outings.
Liverpool and Man City were going back and forth during the summer of 2015 for Sterling. City had an initial £30m bid rejected, but they eventually reached Liverpool's asking price and signed Sterling for £44m plus £5m in add-ons. This deal made Sterling the most expensive ever English player at the time.
The 2019/20 campaign was not as successful for City, as Liverpool won the Premier League title comfortably. But they won the EFL Cup once again, and it was Sterling's best goal scoring season to date. He got 31 in all competitions, which was helped by him getting hat tricks against West Ham, Atalanta and Brighton.
He ended his career at Manchester City with 337 appearances, in all competitions, under his belt, plus 131 goals and 94 assists.
Sterling was born in Kingston, Jamaica, so he was eligible to play internationally for them. But with him spending the majority of his life in England, it is understandable that he would choose to play for the Three Lions.
He represented England at every youth level from U-16s to U-21s between 2009 and 2013. The winger was capped eight times for the U-21s between 2012 and 2013, as he also scored three goals. In the middle of this, Roy Hodgson handed Sterling his senior debut in November 2012. From May 2014 onwards, Sterling became a regular starter for England's senior team.
Sterling played in all three of England's group games at the 2014 World Cup. This was a wretched tournament for The Three Lions, as they lost to Italy and Uruguay and drew to Costa Rica to be knocked out at the group stage.
He was a regular starter at both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup under Hodgson and Southgate. But he failed to make much of an impact, as he has failed to score at a major international tournament so far.
In 2021, Gareth Southgate called up Sterling to be part of England's EURO 2020 squad. In the group stages, Sterling scored both of England's goals against Croatia and the Czech Republic in 1-0 wins.
In the knockout rounds, Sterling continued his fine form, netting against Germany in a 2-0 win and assisting Harry Kane for the opener in England's 4-0 drubbing of Ukraine.
In the semi-final against Denmark, Sterling played a pivotal role in England's equaliser, forcing Danish captain, Simon Kjaer, into a challenge that resulted in an own-goal.
Sterling also won a penalty in extra-time against the Danes, which was scored on a rebound. England reached the Euro 2020 finals, but lost on penalties to Italy.
After the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, Sterling made a significant donation to help the families of those affected by the disaster. Throughout his career, he has been a key figure in the fight against racism in football. In doing so, the 'bad boy' image he wrongly had early into his career is no longer there.
His commitment to his family and battle against racism has led him to be one of the most respected players in the modern game.
Sterling was reportedly earning £329k a week for Manchester City, a contract that saw him earn roughly £16m per year.
Raheem Sterling and Ben White have been left out of the 25-man England squad for this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and North Macedonia.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is taking a "careful" approach with captain Reece James, who started a match for just the second time this season in the Blues' 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Blackburn.
Mauricio Pochettino believes Raheem Sterling can prove Gareth Southgate was wrong to leave him out of another England squad after the Chelsea forward inspired his side to a 4-1 win at Burnley.
Raheem Sterling made a point to Gareth Southgate as he sparked a Chelsea comeback in a 4-1 win at Burnley, who slumped to a fifth consecutive home defeat to start the Premier League season.
Raheem Sterling has not made the cut for Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland, but Jordan Henderson has been included.
Mauricio Pochettino emphasized that the credit for reviving his Chelsea career should go to Raheem Sterling, as the player's two goals propelled the team to a decisive 3-0 victory against Luton.
England manager Gareth Southgate is confident Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling has the mental strength to deal with what was a very difficult season at the Blues.
