Raheem Sterling played a big part in establishing Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side as the dominant force in English football. Arriving at the club in the summer before the coach, he would go on to play a key role for the club as they won four Premier League titles together at The Etihad.
In saying that, there was always a sense that Guardiola wasn't quite sure about the winger. While he certainly improved under his tutelage, he did not always see, to have the trust of his manager.
That culminated last season, where Sterling found himself out of the team for spells despite some of City's other wingers not exactly firing at times. In the end, it was not a surprise to see him leave the club this summer.
Raheem Sterling on Manchester City exit
It's clear that the relationship between Pep Guardiola and Raheem Sterling was a sometimes complicated one.
Speaking at his official introduction as a Chelsea player, he said it was a surprise to be left out of the team last season and gave a somewhat cryptic answer when explaining the reasoning behind his decision to leave Manchester City (h/t The Independent).
It was a big surprise. It was a massive surprise … a change of events all of a sudden. It’s something I had to handle and that’s why I’m here.
Me and the manager and the people at the club know exactly what the reasons were. I tried to play my football and overcome the situation but it couldn’t be done so I had to move on.
Since I was 17, I’ve been a regular starter and to get to the peak time in my career, not to be playing regularly was something I wouldn’t accept. My personality is to try to fight and change the scenario but it didn’t come and that was it...
I got a phone call when I was in Jamaica to say it was heating up (the move to Chelsea). That was when I was aware of the seriousness.
I felt my game time at [Man] City was getting limited for different reasons and I couldn’t afford to waste more time. When I look back in the future, I never wanted to look back and see a rise then a decline. So my feeling was I needed to keep at the same level and a fresh challenge was needed.
Manchester City have undergone a major overhaul of their squad this summer, with experienced players such as Sterling, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko leaving the club.
It will be interesting to see how such moves affects their depth later in the season, although they will hope that the additions they made will more than make up for any potential gaps in the squad.
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