‘This guy ain’t serious’, ‘What a shame!’ – Many fans react as Raheem Sterling opens up on Man City exit

Raheem Sterling has said he was ‘fuming and raging’ at his Manchester City exit but ‘couldn’t be in a happier place’ at Chelsea.

Sterling, 27, left Manchester for London in July, ending his seven season stint at the Etihad as a four-time Premier League winner.

The England international became the first signing of the Todd Boehly ownership era in a £47.5million deal, but didn’t leave City under the best of circumstances.

Sterling’s deal with Pep Guardiola’s side was set to expire in 2023, but he suggested the lack of an extension wasn’t down to him.

‘Everyone wants to feel wanted, football is no different. When you play your heart out, sacrifice some of your kids’ birthdays, and then get treated in a certain way, it’s disappointing,’ Sterling told Sky Sports.

“At the time I was fuming, raging, but it’s gone, it’s in the past and I can only focus on the present, which is now, here at Chelsea, and the opportunity I’ve got here to go out and showcase my talents once again.

Asked to explain how his departure came about, Sterling said: ‘Misunderstandings, contracts running down. It was a shame to see how it ended in the end because I had such a great time there.

‘A lot of things came into play, a lot of reasons, but I wasn’t complaining, I was ready to challenge and, as you can see, even with some of the performances I put in, you couldn’t guarantee yourself a place so it just didn’t make sense to fight a battle you can never win.’

He added: ‘It [City] is a fantastic club, it’s a club that wins lots of trophies, it’s a club that has helped my development massively in the past couple of years, but there comes a time when you’ve got to think about yourself, what’s best for yourself, and what you want for the future. That’s the sole reason why I am here [at Chelsea].’

These Sterling’s comments were shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.

“This guy ain’t serious”
Credit: @Iyce_Delly

“He played for us for 7 years and he has the audacity to say that? Damn, What a shame!”
Credit: @rdsampson_25

“Some of y’all were defending this guy 😭”
Credit: @Joe_mcfc_

“Wasn’t good enough so didn’t start, got offered a new contract but wanted guaranteed game time, pep couldn’t give him that cause he isn’t good enough to start week in week out for us missed to Many chances”
Credit: @Laporte_Role

“Gundo went through the exact same thing and is now our captain. Stones, same thing then put in his best season ever. I can keep going.”
Credit: @EklavyaChawla16

“Can this guy leave us alone, nobody cares move on bro! Move on”
Credit: @charleymidas

“You can’t play all the games. Rotation is the key to the success in modern football. Pep’s rotational strategy is the best for modern football. This has given us continuous successes.”
Credit: @CityCookingOil1

“Pep fielded this guy in games he shouldn’t, Sterling had more appearances than Mahrez (City highest goalscorer) last season, Pep gaves the guy every chance he needed to own his place in the last 2 years, Foden obviously outplayed him, why is he spitting this nonsense talk.”
Credit: @MrCoachito

“What? This ain’t it. This is straight cap. I can’t name 10 good Sterling performances in the last 2 years. If it was Mahrez talking like this I’d understand but Raz? He was starting bare games even after stinkers”
Credit: @dxntaje

“At no point last season did I ever feel like Sterling was unfairly dropped. Also, how many players have a guaranteed place in this City team? Sorry Raheem but feels to me like you just didn’t have the desire to fight anymore”
Credit: @DataInsightDan