RAHEEM STERLING believes the ‘eventful journey’ of being a Chelsea player will ultimately pay dividends.
The experienced winger is about to kick off his third season under his fifth manager at the volatile club which has also signed 35 players in barely two years.
Sterling is back in favour under latest head coach Enzo Maresca and in line to start Sunday’s Premier League opener against his old club Manchester City.
He said: “It’s been, again, an eventful two years. But one that I’m super committed to, that will get the results that I was expecting.
“It’s been an eventful journey, but I do see the vision and I do see us taking our next step and now really challenging for stuff – slowly but surely.
“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself and you hear yourself moaning sometimes, or being disappointed sometimes, and I always go back to the moments I was a kid in my bedroom and praying to God that one day, hopefully, this could be me.
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“I’m very fortunate to be living that dream and just continue enjoying it and loving every minute of it.”
Chelsea finished sixth last season but are aiming higher this term with demands from the board to qualify for the Champions League consistently – which means fourth place minimum.
Sterling, 29, is all about routine and says former boss Pep Gaurdiola taught him how to use monotony to his advantage when they were together at Premier League champions City.
The £47million winger has eaten eggs on toast for breakfast every day for the past eight years.
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He said: “It was just the messaging of sleep, eat, breathe football,” he recounts Guardiola telling him.
“And as you can see from how he is and how successful he’s been, that’s the motto – not just football, any aspect of your life. If you want something and you’re doing it, you gotta be all in and have all your energy and thought process on that.
“The most beautiful thing in football is you’re the one in control. So when you’re on that football field, it’s you that’s in control. So I think that’s definitely something I’ve learned in the later years of my career that, you know, don’t focus on what you can’t control.”
Sterling has been boosted by playing a large part in Chelsea’s pre-season games, learning to understand Maresca’s possession-based approach to the game and the new tactics under the Italian.
He turns 30 in four months and has become a senior figure in the Chelsea dressing room – especially to emerging star Cole Palmer, eight years younger than him. They are previous team-mates from City too.
Sterling also has two sons and is enjoying the responsibilities of bringing them up and sees a future in football for himself once he retires from playing.
He said: “If I can have some part in football, it will definitely be something along those lines, helping younger individuals to seek their pathway in the game. That’s something that brings me joy.
“I’ve got my boys, so I think my main focus, even now, is getting them as much information as I can with my experiences in life and football, to get them ready for the real world.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
