Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has spoken out on the different ways he has has to adapt with age and how he deals with critics on social media.
Sterling, who joined City back in 2015, has constantly faced scrutiny not only in his footballing career but in his personal life too, across many years of being in the public eye.
He has always been eager to concentrate solely on his football, and Sterling has netted nine goals in 24 appearances for Pep Guardiola's side this season, with the the England international pushing to claim his fourth Premier League winner's medal.
Away from the game, the 27-year-old admitted overcoming the barrage of media abuse directed his way was one of the most difficult stages of his life to date.
As part of his appearance as guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday, Sterling began: ''I think I've been on lots of ups and downs in my playing career but that was most definitely the most difficult part of my career to date.
''I was a young boy at the time figuring a lot of stuff out at the time and really starting to learn how to deal with the pressure's of being in the public eye.
''There were for sure certain things that I didn't understand, but I felt like I was being personally targeted at one point.
The former Liverpool winger also spoke on how growing up has taught him how to respond to critics, especially through the art of meditation more recently.
'He added: 'I keep banging on about how no one is giving us the remedy or how to be the perfect professional footballer, or in fact no one has given it to me.
''At the same time you're learning along the way and until you go through those tough times and overcome it most importantly, you then start to analyse where the problem really lies.''
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