Playing for the love of the game has motivated and driven Raheem Sterling throughout his life.
Our newest signing has had a hugely successful career to date, bursting onto the scene as a teenager at Liverpool, having joined their academy from Queens Park Rangers in a high-profile move at the age of 15 in 2010. He made his debut for both Liverpool and the England national team aged 17, and joined Manchester City three years later in a deal which broke the transfer record for an English player.
He more than justified the price tag, winning four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup during a seven-year stay – half of it working alongside Mikel Arteta. He then switched to Chelsea in 2022, scoring 19 times in two seasons, and reaching another League Cup final.
It means he’s spent the past 13 years competing for the biggest trophies in the game, and he’s now bringing that considerable know how to the Gunners squad, spending the season on loan with us.
So what are the major lessons that Raheem has learnt in his glittering career so far? Well it all goes back to his very early days in football, and developing an ethos that has stuck with him ever since.
“The big lesson I learnt from an early age was to understand that being out playing football and being on the pitch was a place where you are meant to enjoy yourself,” the 29-year-old begins. “If you are not enjoying yourself when you are playing, then that’s not what football is about. No matter what position you play, or what level you are playing at, the most important thing in football is to enjoy what you do. Love playing and love the feeling of winning as well.”
Born in Kingston, Jamaica in December 1994, Raheem moved to London aged five and soon joined QPR’s academy.
“I had a few early influences, I had Clive Ellington who was a real mentor for me,” Raheem explains, remembering his days at first Sunday league team Alpha & Omega FC. “Then in my early days at QPR I had a coach, Steve Gallen, Abdi as well – they were my early coaching influences in my playing career.
“Then in terms of players, the first one I think of is Steven Gerrard. When I first went into the dressing room at Liverpool I saw the way he carried himself and conducted himself. Then how much he was always willing to help me, even though he had all the pressure that was on him as well. He tried to make all the youngsters feel in tune and a part of it.”
It was making that move to Liverpool to join up with the likes of Gerrard that sums up Raheem’s drive and ambition. He was just 15 at the time, and desperate to break through into the national team setup. So he took a chance.
“I think moving up from London to Liverpool was a big moment for me,” he says. “I’m a person who very much likes to challenge myself or put myself in environments out of my comfort zone. I like to test myself to see how I will respond. So that was a big moment for me. I had a big ambition to play for England under-16s at the time, and I remember not being picked for the first Victory Shield.
“The England story at the time was that they felt the boys playing for the category A teams were just a bit ahead of me. So in my head I thought I needed to be in that environment, in with the category A teams. So that’s why I was keen to move from QPR to Liverpool, to join that environment and try to prove myself at that level, and get in the under-16s for England.”
“No matter what position you play, or what level you are playing at, the most important thing in football is to enjoy what you do”
It’s clear he took onboard all the coaching and advice he received from a young age to be able to fulfil that incredible early potential, but he believes his own self-motivation was just as important.
“Looking back, I would say I was very self-driven. At the time I never put any pressure on myself, it was just something I loved doing, and no matter where I was, I always wanted to improve. I always said to myself that however I had done in the last five games, I wanted to be better in the next five. I constantly had those little targets, then wanted to go and do it.
“At the start there were two training sessions a day, but I can guarantee I was outside every single day, any chance I had to play football. If my friends were outside, fine I’d join them, if they weren’t outside then I’d go out by myself. I was always very self-motivated.
“But it never felt like hard work, I was just enjoying myself, that was what I wanted to do. It was about enjoyment. It was how I spent all of my time basically, playing football because I loved it.
“My favourite drills in training were always taking players on,” he adds. “Just turning and running at players. That was always the joy for me, having the ball at my feet and trying to beat players. The more I could do that, the better I was playing. It’s the same now too, but of course as well as that I’m looking to get goals on the end of that.”
“turning and running at players. That was always the joy for me, having the ball at my feet and trying to beat players”
His love for the game is evident as he speaks, and it’s something he wants to pass on to the next generation when the time comes.
“I don’t know about coaching yet,” he says, “but maybe something to do with working with young players, and trying to help them to handle what’s next and prepare them for that. I get real joy out of helping people.
“Being any sort of help to people on a football pitch gives me real joy, so it might not be coaching, but something along those lines, working with players, but not maybe as a traditional coach. More about helping the young players with different things, but I don’t know – it’s a way off yet. That’s something for the future.
“There is a qualification I want to do, not on the coaching side, but I will focus on playing first I think.”
Until then, Raheem has plenty of ambitions remaining on the pitch, and after getting his first appearances out of the way for his new club on the pitch, he can’t wait to get down to work at the Sobha Realty Training Centre as well, and specifically in the analysis rooms.
“I absolutely love the analysis side,” he beams. “That’s my favourite part of it now. Doing the analysis on your opponents, knowing what they are going to do, and what you have to do against them. I just think it’s amazing, because that is football.
“You have to be totally prepared for anything the opposition can throw at you, and then you have to be more ready than them to deal with it. I think whoever does that side of the game better more consistently will come out on top.
“I love it when we do that with the coaches, and that’s something I would like to be involved with as well. I think it’s really interesting, and when I’m in those meetings, I love listening to their analysis and making the plans.
“When I’m watching a game at home, I always like to try and identify what both teams are doing. Not just watching the game or what’s happening, but really see why certain things are happening or why they aren’t. I think that’s a side of the game that’s really grown in the past few years, and the environments I’ve been in have allowed me to see the game more in that way.”
Now Raheem is in an all-new setting, at a new club, to add to his al
