This may be the real reason Raheem Sterling forced out of Man City amid ‘shock’ claim – pundit
Frank McAvennie has claimed that Raheem Sterling may have been forced out of Man City because he no longer has the “fire in his belly”.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former West Ham striker also claimed that playing for long stretches without the ball at Chelsea may come as a “shock to the system” for the 27-year-old.
Chelsea confirmed the signing of Sterling from City for a fee of around £50million on Wednesday (13 July).
The forward put pen to paper on a five-year deal with the London club, keeping him at Stanford Bridge until 2027.
The England international worked his way through Liverpool’s youth academy before joining Man City in 2015.
When asked if Man City may regret their decision to sell Sterling, McAvennie told Football Insider: “The boy’s a talent but I don’t think they’ll regret it.
“Maybe he doesn’t have that fire in his belly anymore. He’s been there for that long, maybe Pep said to him it was time to move on and get some game time. He’ll feel that he’s got good enough players to cope with Sterling leaving.
“Man City get a lot of the ball, Sterling will be used to that. You won’t get that at Chelsea. Teams like Man City and Liverpool keep the ball a lot more than Chelsea. He’ll have to do a lot of work to try and win it back which will be strange for him.
“I don’t know if he’s up for that. Not having the ball all the time, it’s going to be a shock to the system.”
In other news, a pundit has backed Man City to complete ‘massive’ Josko Gvardiol deal after update.