Raheem Sterling has denied that he "threw a sicknote in" during his final days as a Liverpool player in order to force through his move to Manchester City.
The winger was said to be unsettled at Anfield after two failed bids by Manchester City and missed two days of Liverpool pre-season training at Melwood earlier this month, which was widely seen as an attempt to force Liverpool’s hand to sell, but Sterling has now insisted that he stayed at home on doctor’s orders.
“Everyone thought I threw a sicknote in,” Sterling told the Manchester Evening News. “I was in training on the Tuesday – in the changing room my stomach started hurting. I still went out and trained though.
“That day I went home, and I told the doc I was ill. My stomach was rumbling and I had diarrhoea. The doctor just said to me you can’t be around the other players. For the next 48 hours, I stayed at home. That’s what the club doctor told me to do. When that 48 hours was done I came back to training as normal.”
Sterling completed his £49m move to City last week to become the most expensive British player of all time, signing a five-year contract believed to be worth around £200,000-a-week. He could make his debut for his new club on Tuesday when City play against Roma in Melbourne during their pre-season tour of Australia.
“Everyone tries to make it seem bad but you’ve just got to take it on the chin,” he added about his Liverpool absence. “I didn’t really want to add more fuel to the fire so I didn’t comment on it.”
Sterling is expected to make his City debut against Roma on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Australia, his new manager said: “I think Raheem worked with Liverpool for three days and so he will play some minutes.
“I know him (Sterling). I’ve seen him play against us for the last two seasons, but I think it’s important for him to try and have minutes with our team as soon as he can.”
Guardian services
