One of England's most exciting attacking threats ahead of this summer's World Cup in Russia, it is staggering the degree to which Raheem Sterling manages to incite such anger in the national media, and amongst the country's football fans.
Speaking to The Times ahead of a World Cup campaign that will inevitably (and thankfully for Sterling, perhaps) find a new scapegoat for their international football failings, Sterling revealed how difficult day-to-day life had become for him:
I am thinking if I go out tonight, something bad is going to happen. ... I will will try to stay in as much as I can, watch TV and no can say anything.
An integral member of Pep Guardiola's record-breaking Premier League champions, Sterling was the unfortunate victim of an unprovoked, racially-aggravated attack at the club's academy base in December.
Compounding the general sense of disdain that surrounds the 23-year-old, Sterling alludes to the damage done as a result of England's disastrous European Championship campaign in 2016:
I remember my first game at the Euros, I thought I did all right. Got past my opponent a couple of times, got a couple of balls in and you just get caned. Now I am constantly thinking, ‘If I do this, something bad will come of it.’
Moving to Manchester City from Liverpool in 2015 at 20-years of age, much of Sterling's professional career has been carried out under intense media scrutiny.
A key component of Brendan Rodgers' side that almost ended the club's domestic league title drought, he has consistently developed from this point to become one of Guardiola's most consistent performers.
Like many such English talents before him, such performances have perhaps not been replicated with the kind of regularity fans would like. Yet, still only 23-years-old and heading to his third major tournament, it beggars belief why he should be reduced to hiding indoors for fear of the unknown.
