Raheem Sterling has revealed that he almost joined Arsenal’s academy, but his mother intervened and advised him against signing.
The winger joined the Gunners on loan on deadline day this summer, signing a season-long deal with London rivals Chelsea after being left out of the Blues’ matchday squads.
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However, Sterling could have worn the red of Arsenal much, much earlier in his career if his mother had not advised him against it.
And it is not because Sterling’s mother was a Tottenham fan.
Fans have dug up his 2018 Players’ Tribune article in which the England international said: “[Joining a Sunday League team] changed my life. From that day on, everything was about football, football, football. I was obsessed. Totally obsessed.
“When I was 10 or 11, I was discovered by some big clubs in London. Fulham wanted me. Arsenal wanted me. And if Arsenal want you, of course you think you have to go there. The biggest club in London, you know? So I run around telling my mates, “I’m going to Arsenal!”
“But my mother is a real fighter. She knows how to make it in this world. She is probably the smartest person I know. One day she sat me down and said: ‘Look, I love you. But I don’t think you should go to Arsenal.’
“I said, ‘Ehhhh?’
“She said, ‘If you go there, you’ll find 50 players just as good as you. You’ll just be a number. You need to go somewhere where you can work your way up.'”
And Sterling says his mother – who worked tirelessly along with his sister to help him live his dream – was absolutely right.
He continued: “She convinced me to go to QPR and that was probably the best decision I ever made.
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“At QPR they didn’t allow me to slip up.”
In 2010, Liverpool snapped up the 15-year-old.
He made 129 appearances for the Reds and was called up to the England senior team for the first time during this time before moving to Manchester City for £49 million.
He played 339 times for City, scoring 131 goals and providing 73 assists, winning four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup.
Sterling then left Manchester and returned to west London in 2022, joining Chelsea for £47.5 million.
However, he has struggled to return to the electrifying form he displayed for most of his time at the Etihad Stadium and was stripped of his squad number ahead of this season after not being included in Enzo Maresca’s team.
Now Sterling has finally signed a contract in north London, some 20 years after the club’s initial interest.
And he is keen to get his career back on track as he rejoins Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who previously served as Man City’s assistant manager.
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