Raheem Sterling is claimed by Roy Keane to have ‘definitely’ had a falling out with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, with the Gunners believed to be keen on his signature.
The winger has started only two of the Citizens’ Premier League matches this term, despite remaining fit throughout, and his role in the team is under the spotlight at present.
With just over a year remaining on his contract, rumours are beginning to pop up, with his recent lack of first-team football fuelling those reports, and now Roy Keane has moved to claim that he has had a fallout with City boss Guardiola.
“He (Southgate) is a big fan of Raheem,” Keane told ITV after their coverage of England’s draw with Hungary. “He has always played him, whatever problems he has had at his club.
“He has huge confidence in Raheem. And why wouldn’t he? His stats are fantastic and he has never let (Southgate) down.
“He has definitely had some sort of bust-up with Pep, something has gone on. They bring Grealish in. But, when you work with top managers and so-called big clubs, that’s all part of the package.
“At 20 months, you are talking about his contract, that’s a long way away, just focus on your game and things will pan out for him because he is a quality player.”
Guardiola is known to rotate his players throughout the season, but for Raheem he must feel out of the loop, with Grealish clearly favoured ahead of him on the left. In the previous campaign however, Sterling was largely fielded through the middle of the attack with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus largely missing with injuries, but he can barely get a look in any role at present.
The City star is reported to have a good relationship with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta from his time working as assistant to Pep previously, which is likely to be the main thinking behind the rumours, with the Mirror amongst those to link us with an interest in his signature.