Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has described how his relationship with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has developed from childhood hero status to nothing more thnt a professional rival.
The 25-year-old England forward was telling BBC Radio 5 Live all about his footballing heroes when the touchy subject of his former club came into the conversation.
Sterling spent five years on Merseyside with the Reds, climbing from a highly-rated youth prospect poached from QPR to the club's most exciting first-team player.
But in 2015 he made the switch from Anfield to the Etihad Stadium to join Liverpool's most fierce rivals of the modern Premier League era, Man City.
During his early days in professional football, Sterling revealed that he was "in awe" of his captain Gerrard, but that his relationship with his childhood hero has now changed.
"Probably when I was 17, 18 and 19 I was in awe [of great players]," Sterling said.
"[When I was young, I looked up to] Ronaldinho. If you check my history on YouTube, I think I've watched every single clip of his playing career.
"He was a player that I used to go in the garden to try to recreate but it could never be done. I tried it to the best of my ability, but he was something special.
"Steven Gerrard was the first person I felt a bit in awe of – I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of him but not now, it's just strictly business: ‘I need to beat your team’ and it's as simple as that.
He added: “I think they are great players and everything but I don’t really dwell on that anymore."
