170
You didn’t tell the manager [Pep Guardiola]?
No. I didn’t feel like I needed to tell him.
The last person I interviewed for GQ with a City connection
was Mario Balotelli. He had that T-shirt, “Why always
me?” Was there a point when you were thinking, “Why
always me?” with some of the crazy stuff in the press?
There were for sure times I was thinking, “Just leave
me alone!”
What was the worst?
It started to get petty, so silly. I think the worst one for
me was they used pictures of every car I’ve bought from
about 17 until I was 22 or 23. I drive into training, so
they could take pictures and use these cars bought over
the years and said, “This is his car on Monday. This is
his car on Tuesday. This is Raheem’s car on Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday.” But it was cars I’ve had, sold, then got
a new one. They made it like I had one for every day of
the week. For me, it was like, “What are you trying to get
at here?”
And what are they trying to get at? They’re trying to make
you look like you’re the bling kid.
Just going wild, running around spending money
on cars.
How many cars have you got now?
I’ve got one. I’ve just changed it again.
What’s this changing car thing about?
I hadn’t changed my car in a while! I just thought I
needed a smaller car at this moment, so I got a GMC.
Do you like being wealthy?
I’m just grateful. When you get to this sort of level, this
is the earning you can have. When I was at QPR it was
just for pure love of playing football. As you get older you
start to understand what comes into play. I’m grateful I
can put my mum – the most important person in my life- in a position that she doesn’t have to work again, even
though she still chooses to sometimes, and just to be able
to support my family.
Do you think a lot of the negative press was about the idea of
this young, brash, cocky black kid having all this money, like
there is something wrong with it?
There was a point when I left Liverpool that I actually
thought, “Why should this little black kid have this
money?” That’s at one point how I felt, the stories that
were coming out... Why should he?Do you think the wealth in the game has made it harder for
fans to feel they are connected to a club?
I wouldn’t say that. When I was at Liverpool there
was a great atmosphere with fans. It is a family-
orientated club. You have to take time out and show
your appreciation. But no, I definitely feel connected to
the fans.I want to know whether the top clubs now are way better
than any national side.
[Sterling laughs]All right. Could City beat France?
Yeah. If we played France, we could beat them.How do you explain the difference in quality?
For one, you’re here every day. In the national team
you’re there seven to eight days. You still have top
players, but you don’t get the same time with the
manager. If I was with England every day it would be
different and I think the team would play better. If
you’re there for ten days, you train four or five of those
days and you’re recovering two to three of them. So
you’re not really on the training pitches, compared to
here, where you’re on the training pitches every single
day, for a good ten months, plus preseason. So I think
the massive thing is the time we have.Could you go through your team now and pick out half
a dozen players who would be best in the world at what
they do?
Yeah. Or top three for sure. I’d say 75 to 80 per cent of
our team are top three in the world in their positions.Tell me about the manager. What specifically has he done
that has made you improve as a player?
He has challenged me, never let me be comfortable.
Every year he has bought a new winger. So for me it’s
like, “Cool. OK. I’ve done OK.” And now, the last season,
he’s just got another one.How do you feel when that happens? Say when Bernardo
Silva came in, how did you hear about that?
How did I hear? Like everybody else.NECK CHAINS BY
AVIANNE & CO.