Man City star feeling pretty smug after engineering Liverpool exit

How far Liverpool go under Jurgen Klopp remains to be seen, but the Reds’ fate will feel particularly irrelevant right now for Manchester City star Raheem Sterling who is revelling in life since switching Anfield for the Etihad.

Sterling caused controversy last season when he appeared to hold Liverpool to ransom over his future at the club, refusing to sign a bumper new deal which ultimately led to his £49m move to Manchester City in the summer.

During what turned out to be his final campaign on Merseyside, the Jamaican-born forward cited a lack of ambition by Liverpool, rather than a perceived lust in many quarters to earn considerably more cash if he signed on at the Etihad.

Regardless of the contributing factors to his Liverpool exit though, it’s fair to say that the morning after his sixth City goal helped his new team earn qualification to the Champions League knockout stages, Sterling is feeling pretty satisfied with his decision.

Having limped out of the competition with Liverpool in the group stages last season, City’s arrival in the last 16 with room to spare is like night and day for Sterling – with the English club now 4/9 favourites to top Group D.

Rather than be forced to scrap for playing time as some naysayers had predicted before his move, the ballsy 20-year-old has become a fixture under Manuel Pellegrini early in his Etihad career.

His blend of pace, trickery and an improving eye for goal has already endeared him to the Citizens faithful, where a first senior hat-trick of his career in the Premier League was the perfect exhibition of his confidence this season.

Things are also going pretty swimmingly on the home front too. After 11 games City lead the Premier League on goal difference from Arsenal and with Chelsea’s defence in tatters, the Manchester club are very believable 1/1 favourites to land the one that got away for Sterling in 2013/14.

Given a plumb home draw for their Capital One Cup quarter-final as well, the winners of two years ago are also the strong 11/10 fav’s to land the trophy again.

It’s early in the season, but if Sterling did move to City specifically to land trophies as he insisted, it feels highly plausible he’ll be fully vindicated by the conclusion of his very first campaign as a blue.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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