Raheem Sterling has named four players ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in his ‘top five players’ list.
Sterling, 30, is currently on loan at Arsenal from Premier League rivals Chelsea but has struggled to make a positive impact on Mikel Arteta’s side in his 12 appearances for the north London club.
However, despite the dip in form, Sterling is already boasting a career that most players dream of having represented Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal as well as playing 82 England caps.
He was arguably at his best during his time at City, recording 131 goals and 73 assists in 339 appearances, helping the club win four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups during his seven-year stay. Got help.
In addition to his achievements, he has experience playing with and against many world-class operators.
During his time at Liverpool, he shared the dressing room with players such as Steven Gerrard and Luis Suárez.
He worked with Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure at City as well as sharing the pitch with modern stars such as Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka in recent years.
But none of the players mentioned made his list of his top five players of all-time.
Raheem Sterling in action for Arsenal (Credit: Getty)
talking to GOAL’s Fanzone He expressed his views in November 2024.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is fifth, which is crazy,” he said.
“Then for me, R9 [Ronaldo Nazario] [at] Four. [Lionel] Messi three, Neymar [at two],
But his number one may surprise you.
He topped his impressive list with another Brazilian, Ronaldinho.
Sterling previously spoke about how the 2002 World Cup winner was his idol while growing up.
“Ronaldinho [was my idol],” he said bbc radio 5 live in 2020 [quotes via MEN],
“That’s who I am… If you’ve looked at my history on YouTube, I think I’ve watched every single clip of his playing career.
“He was the player I would go out into the garden and try to recreate, which I could never do. I tried to the best of my ability but he was very special.”
And the England international clearly admires the Brazilian players, admitting he “likes” a certain thing about Neymar.
“The thing I like about Neymar is that every time he loses the ball, or tries to do something, he gets the ball back,” he said. many times In 2018.
“He doesn’t get discouraged. He has the mentality of a winner.”
“Looking at Neymar…you’ve got the ball on the edge of his box, and he’s straight towards you, trying to win the ball. He makes a lot of moves but he makes his moves at the right time.”