England national team manager Roy Hogdson believes Raheem Sterling will benefit from his move to Manchester City, Mail Sport reports.
The former Liverpool winger completed his somewhat controversial £49million transfer to last season’s Premier League runners-up earlier in the month and has already opened his account for his new club.
It took Sterling just three minutes to find the back of the net on his debut against Serie A giants Roma in City’s first pre-season game and he then followed it up with a brace in City’s latest game against Vietnam on Monday afternoon.
Whilst Sterling’s transfer has been met with a mixture of anger and doubts from many connected with the Merseyside outfit, Hodgson believes the 20-year-old will develop into a much better player during his time at the Etihad Stadium:
“We have a lot of faith in Raheem Sterling. He has never been out of our thoughts at any time, whether or not he has been playing well, in his club team or not,” Hodgson said.
“We have always had him in our 25 as a player for the future who we think, if we are ever going to become a really good team, we need players like him because of his exceptional talent.”
“I think it will help him to mature and improve even more. I think for his age he is a remarkably strong and robust person., not just physically on the field but mentally,” Hodgson added.
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