Raheem Sterling

Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Eredivisie club Feyenoord. Regarded as one of the best wingers to ever play in the Premier League, he is known for his pace, dribbling skills and versatility.

Sterling began his career at Queens Park Rangers, before signing for Liverpool in 2010. He was awarded the Golden Boy award in 2014. In July 2015, following a lengthy dispute over a new contract, he was signed by Manchester City in a transfer worth £49 million with add-ons, the highest transfer fee ever paid for an English player at the time. He went on to help City win back-to-back Premier League titles in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. In the 2018–19 season, he was included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year and won the PFA Young Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. He won two further Premier League titles with the club in 2020–21 and 2021–22, before signing for Chelsea in July 2022. Sterling is currently the all-time English top assist provider in the UEFA Champions League, with 23. He joined Arsenal on loan for the 2024–25 season before returning back to Chelsea. After departing Chelsea, he joined Feyenoord as a free agent in February 2026.

Born in Jamaica, Sterling made his debut for the England senior team in November 2012 after previously being capped by England youth teams at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. He was chosen in England's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.

Early life

Raheem Shaquille Sterling was born on 8 December 1994 in Kingston, Jamaica to a Christian family, and spent his early years there. His mother, Nadine Clarke, was previously a competitive athlete in the Jamaican national athletics team: Sterling credits her for his unique running style. His father was murdered in Jamaica when Sterling was two years old. At the age of five, he moved to Neasden, London, with his mother, and attended Copland School in Wembley, north-west London. Due to behavioural problems, Sterling spent three years at Vernon House, a specialist school in Neasden. While growing up, he was a supporter of Manchester United F.C., although went on to play for their biggest rivals.

Club career

Early career

Sterling spent four years with local youth team Alpha & Omega before signing for Queens Park Rangers, at age 10, as a winger. Sterling was subsequently scouted by the academies of Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool and Manchester City. However, he was encouraged by his mother not to choose clubs in the locality to escape the hostile gang culture in London.

Liverpool

Early career

Sterling was signed by Liverpool from the academy at Queens Park Rangers in February 2010 by then academy director Frank McParland and Rafael Benítez, for an initial fee of £450,000, with the possibility of rising up to £2 million depending on how many appearances he made for the first team.

He initially played in the club's youth team, making his debut in an under-18s derby match against Everton. Sterling scored his first goal for Liverpool in a friendly match against Hibernian, which ended in a 2–2 draw. His first Premier Academy League match was a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa, with his first win coming at home to Bristol City a week later. On 15 December, he scored in the FA Youth Cup in a 4–0 win over Notts County. On 14 February 2011, Sterling scored five goals in a 9–0 win over Southend United.

On 24 March 2012, Sterling made his senior Liverpool debut as a substitute in a league match against Wigan Athletic, aged 17 years and 107 days, becoming the third-youngest player to play for the club. He made two more appearances over the remainder of the campaign, again as a substitute.

2012–2014: Development and breakthrough

In August 2012, he made his European debut for the club, coming on as a substitute in a UEFA Europa League qualifying match against Gomel, replacing Joe Cole in a 1–0 away win. The following week, Sterling scored his first goal for the senior team with a first-half strike in a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. On 23 August 2012, he started his first match for Liverpool in a Europa League qualifying match away to Heart of Midlothian in a 1–0 win. He was given his first start in the league three days later in a 2–2 draw at Anfield to Manchester City. He played the full 90 minutes in the loss to Arsenal on 2 September, and the draw with Sunderland on 15 September, where he registered one assist and was named man of the match. On 19 September, Sterling was one of the group of teenagers that travelled to Switzerland to play Young Boys in a UEFA Europa League group match. He replaced Stewart Downing in the second half as Liverpool won 5–3. On 20 October, Sterling scored his first senior competitive goal for Liverpool in the 29th minute of a 1–0 league win against Reading with a strike from the edge of the box. As a result, he became the second-youngest player to score in a competitive fixture for Liverpool, behind only Michael Owen.

On 21 December 2012, Sterling signed a contract extension, committing his future to Liverpool. He scored his second league goal for the club on 2 January 2013, opening the scoring in a 3–0 win against Sunderland with a lob over goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

On 27 August 2013, Sterling scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season, the opening goal against Notts County in a 4–2 win in the League Cup. On 4 December, Sterling scored his first Premier League goal of the season for Liverpool in a 5–1 win over Norwich City. His form in December saw him score two further goals in wins against Tottenham Hotspur (5–0) and Cardiff City (3–1). On 8 February 2014, he scored twice in a 5–1 win against Arsenal at Anfield. On 13 April, he scored Liverpool's opening goal in a 3–2 win over Manchester City. A week later, he again scored two goals and assisted another as Liverpool won 3–2 against Norwich City at Carrow Road.

On 18 April 2014, Sterling was named as one of the six players on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He was named Liverpool Chartered Player of the Month for April. At the end of the season, he was named Liverpool's Young Player of the Year.

2014–2015: Final season with Liverpool

On 17 August 2014, Sterling scored to help Liverpool win their opening match of the 2014–15 season, a 2–1 win at home to Southampton. On 31 August, Sterling scored the opening goal in a 3–0 league win against Tottenham at White Hart Lane and was named man of the match. Sterling was named the Liverpool Player of the Month for August.

On 16 September, Sterling made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–1 victory over Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad at Anfield. On 14 December 2014, he made his 100th appearance for Liverpool in a match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. On 17 December, Sterling scored a brace in a 3–1 victory over Bournemouth at Dean Court in the League Cup quarter-final.

On 20 December, Sterling was named as the recipient of the 2014 Golden Boy award. "It's down to hard work. I'm really happy that people are recognising that I'm trying to work hard and do my best for this football club. I'm really grateful for this award," he stated upon receiving the award. Sterling was officially excused from Liverpool's FA Cup match against AFC Wimbledon in January 2015, with manager Brendan Rodgers aiming to prevent the player becoming exhausted. He used the time off to holiday in Jamaica.

On 20 January 2015, Sterling scored a fine solo goal against Chelsea in a 1–1 draw in the League Cup semi-final first leg at Anfield, going past Nemanja Matić and Gary Cahill before beating Thibaut Courtois to find the net. On 31 January, Sterling scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win over West Ham United. On 4 February, Sterling scored the equaliser against Bolton Wanderers at the Macron Stadium in a 2–1 away win for Liverpool. On 22 February, he scored the second goal for Liverpool in a 2–0 win over Southampton.

On 13 April, Sterling opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over Newcastle United. He was named the team's Young Player of the Season on 19 May for the second consecutive year in a row, and when receiving the award was booed by fans due to his rejection of a new contract; he was also booed on 7 June, while playing for England in Dublin. On 16 April 2015, for the second consecutive year, he was named as one of the six players on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Contract dispute

On 9 February 2015, Brendan Rodgers said that Sterling had been offered "an incredible deal" to stay at Liverpool, rumoured to be a new contract worth £100,000 a week, but he also stated Liverpool were "certainly not a club that is going to give way, way above what a player is worth at a certain time in their career." However, on 20 March, Rodgers said Sterling's contract situation would not be resolved until the summer at least.