Raheem Sterling has admitted he has cut out his 'sloppy' nature in the final third since moving to Manchester City six years ago, having learned to become 'obsessed' with goalscoring.
During his time at Anfield, the England international displayed moments of class but often lacked killer instinct when bearing down on goal.
Sterling's best scoring return in a Premier League season for Liverpool saw him find the back of the net nine times during the 2013/14 season, operating alongside the prolific Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
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The 27-year-old has slowly developed his game under Pep Guardiola and has experienced year-on-year improvement, with the exception of last campaign.
Explaining where his desire to improve his numbers came from, Sterling credits a 96th minute winner he scored versus Southampton four years ago as the moment that kick-started a change in approach.
“I think the Southampton goal was around this time [of year]. This is when I started to become obsessed with scoring goals," he told the MEN.
“I wasn’t really interested in scoring goals [before that]. I wanted to meg someone, do a stepover, make someone drop. I wanted to do fun stuff and have some nice YouTube clips. That is what I was like growing up!
“Of course, it is always nice to score but that wasn’t my main objective from the game. It was about beating your man, getting assists and looking nice.
“But around this point was a real turning point for me. I wanted to score winning goals and have people talking about the winning goals.
“It was a nice feeling as you were helping your team. In the past, when I was 17, 18 or 19, people would say ‘He can’t finish and he can’t score goals’.
“Sometimes I was a bit sloppy and it was something I wanted to get better at and I feel like I have.”
Sterling has enjoyed the pleasure of operating alongside two of the best strikers witnessed in the modern era, which has certainly impacted him in a positive way.
Sharing the same pitch as Serio Aguero and Suarez would make most individuals an improved player, a statement that can be applied in the case of the City forward.
“They all took shots when there were other passes on,” he said. “Sometimes they get lucky and you get lucky if you shoot.
“I have not studied them, but on the training field I watched them and I also see if I can add it to my game."
