Raheem Sterling has revealed he was a "massive" fan of Manchester United as a kid.
The Manchester City forward grew up in the Wembley area of London but never went to a game at the famous old stadium until United's defeat to Chelsea in the 2007 FA Cup final.
His ticket came as a gift from his school due to Sterling's footballing prowess, and more recently the England international donated 550 tickets to the same school for City's FA Cup semi-final victory over Brighton .
Sterling still loves going to the stadium, and the area he grew up, and exclusively told our man John Cross that he was firmly in the red corner on that day in 2007.
Raheem Sterling: I'm no role model — but I've opened a door for work to be done
“I was at the final in 2007,” he recalled. “I shouldn’t really say this — not now, definitely not now! — but when I was young I was a massive United fan. I had an old United kit, from when they won the last FA Cup.
"To be in the stadium… it was incredible. It was unbelievable and that was when I tried to give the tickets to the school. That was motivated by that — being so close to the stadium and not going there more than once.
“If two or three of the kids could be inspired, then that’s all I was trying to do. Purely, that’s how I felt at the time.
"If there was a kid who had a chance of being a footballer, hopefully that will give them motivation or inspiration to change their dreams.”
