The City winger is helping his England team-mate get to grips with the demands of life as a professional footballer as he stars for Borussia Dortmund
Raheem Sterling has taken teenage sensation Jadon Sancho under his wing as the Borussia Dortmund winger navigates the complicated world of being a young footballer in 2019.
The Manchester City winger has faced abuse from the stands, online and on the street and frequently comes under increased scrutiny from sections of the media.
Now 24, Sterling is a senior figure for both City and England and he is helping Sancho with advice from afar as the 19-year-old forges his own path in the game.
“Even when I was getting a lot of negative stuff, I was never going to sit there and be someone I’m not,” Sterling told the Daily Mail.
“I talk how I talk. I’d like people to accept me for who I am and they do now. I’m really grateful.
“If there is anything that I feel could put Jadon in a bad light, I make sure I pull him up on it. He’s a good kid. He’s doing a lot more off the field than I was at that age in terms of his preparation work.
“I’m quite close with [teenage midfielder] Ian Poveda at City. It’s a similar story: from London, came up north. He’s always sat next to me on the coach. He’s a bit annoying at times, I tell him that every day!
“He’s my little friend, I try to give him advice. I let him have a feel for things himself but if I do see something I’ll go over.”
It is now two years since Sancho left City for the promise of first-team football in the Bundesliga, and it has rarely looked like a bad move.
The 2018-19 season was the year he proved himself as an elite player at the top end of the game, with 13 goals and 19 assists in 43 appearances for Dortmund.
Like Sterling, he grew up in London – south of the Thames in Camberwell, with Sterling’s childhood spent in Wembley – and he was picked up by one of the Premier League’s top sides in his teens.
Fittingly, Sterling was the man to make way in October 2018 when Sancho made his senior international bow for England.
He came on for the last 15 minutes of a goalless draw with Croatia in a Nations League group game played behind closed doors.
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