Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has been tipped to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Manchester City star Raheem Sterling could have played his last game for the club as he’s been tipped to leave the club this season. And he has already made his feelings clear about a move to Real Madrid, who have been heavily linked previously. Real Madrid are likely to want a big-name signing this summer having missed out on both Erling Haaland, who instead joined City, and Kylian Mbappe.
Sterling was reportedly a target for Zinedine Zidane when the World Cup winner was in charge of Los Blancos. And back in 2020, Sterling spoke about a potential move to the Bernabeu during a lengthy interview he did with Spanish publication Diario AS.
"It’s one of those things - right now I’m at City and I’m really happy," the forward said at the time. "But I say Real Madrid are a fantastic club. When you see the white shirt you know exactly what the club stands for - it’s massive. But at the same time, I have a contract with City now and I have to respect this. But it’s a fantastic club."
The rumours linking Sterling with Real have resurfaced since then and he was tipped to move to Spain on deadline day in January after struggling for game-time at the Etihad during the early stages of the season.
The 27-year-old featured on Pep Guardiola’s team-sheet more regularly throughout the second half of the campaign but could only muster a place on the bench on Sunday afternoon as the Citizens overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Aston Villa and claim the Premier League title. But he did come on during the second half of that showdown and provided a crucial assist for City’s first goal.
Sterling has just one year remaining on his current contract and has also been linked with the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. And the England international was coy over his future when quizzed about it ahead of the first leg of City’s Champions League semi-final showdown with Real Madrid in April.
"At the minute I'm just happy to be playing, happy to be contributing with the team," he said. "I think that's the most important thing. At this period, I think it would be selfish of me to speak of any contract situation and I'm just happy to be playing football and see where we are at the end of the season."
"It's a team full of competition. It's the competition that makes you thrive and once you're performing you just want to keep playing if you're scoring."
Whether it is Madrid or Manchester where Sterling is playing his football next season remains to be seen, but there will be plenty of clubs keen if it becomes likely that his time with City is coming to an end. And he's already made it clear Real Madrid are a team he'd like to play for.