Raheem Sterling’s contract with Manchester City expires in 2023 and he is yet to sign a contract extension, with his lack of game time causing him a lot of uncertainty as to whether his future lies with the club
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Guardiola Fumes at Milner’s red card escape
English winger Raheem Sterling is reportedly unsettled at Manchester City due to his lack of game time and is yet to sign a contract extension at the club.
The 26-year-old has made 202 appearances for the Cityzens since moving from Liverpool in 2015 as a teenager.
Rumours have recently circulated that Sterling is of interest to Newcastle following their major takeover, and the reports from The Guardian that the forward is keen to play as much as possible at the top level will be music to the ears of the Magpies.
Sterling has started just twice this season, with manager Pep Guardiola preferring the likes of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres to him.
If Sterling does leave then this wouldn’t be the first time that the Spanish boss has forced a player out of a club, here are his 10 most well-recognised times that has happened…
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Mario Madzukic (Bayern Munich)
In a major reshuffle at Bayern, Guardiola quickly showed the door to Mario Mandzukic.
The Croatian forward was sold to Atletico Madrid despite scoring 33 goals in 54 appearances for the club.
Guardiola realised in his first season at the helm of Bayern that he wanted a more energetic forward to lead the line and so replaced Madzukic with Robert Lewandowski.
Looking back on it, the former Juventus forward told Sportske Novosti said: “Would I sit down with [Guardiola] to have a cup of coffee? That is not going to happen. In my professional life, I do not have to like everyone.”
Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)
Toni Kroos’ departure was less of a snub and more of a sale based on friendship.
The German’s contract with Bayern was expiring and he refused to sign an extension as he claimed he would only be signing it to play for Guardiola, who he expected to leave the club soon.
With his time in the Bundesliga running out, Bayern understandably cashed in on the 31-year-old and sold him to Real Madrid where he has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world over the last seven years.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
Despite committing 13 years of his footballing career to Bayern and establishing himself as a club legend, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s time at the Allianz Arena ended on a sour note.
Slowly but surely, the German became less of an integral part of the team and Schweinsteiger was sold to Manchester United for £9million.
Asked about his relationship with Guardiola after making the move, he called it “normal”.
The unsavoury feelings between the pair were clearly mutual as the Spanish manager then pointed at Schweinsteiger’s fitness issues as a reason why he may not succeed at his new club, saying: “Unfortunately, during the last three years he was never in good condition.”
Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
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Many football fans remember Ronaldinho as being one of the most enjoyable footballers to watch of recent times.
However, the second his form took a turn for the worst at Barcelona, he was quickly sold by Barcelona.
Guardiola revealed that Ronaldinho had been put up for sale, before questioning the Brazilian’s willpower to be the best by saying: “If I felt that he wanted to be the player he was again, he would be here.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)
The rivalry between Guardiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is well-publicised; the pair never saw eye to eye.
Ibrahimovic quickly fell out of favour after he was signed by Barcelona due to the rapid rise of Lionel Messi, who in turn wanted to play through the middle rather than out wide.
The Swedish striker was therefore rested in favour of Messi, which he made public how unhappy about it he was.
Ibrahimovic then went on loan to AC Milan, who then signed him permanently.
Samuel Eto’o
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Barcelona moved to Inter Milan in 2009 as part of the signing of Ibrahimovic.
The Cameroonian’s time at Barcelona somehow ended poorly despite scoring 30 goals in 36 league games and winning the treble.
Like Ibra, Eto’o believed that he was quickly falling out of favour due to Messi. He told beIN Sports : “I said to Guardiola, you’ll apologise to me, because it’s me that will make Barcelona win, it’s not Messi.
The striker didn’t have enough time to receive his apologise as he was soon packing his bags and moving to Italy.
Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
After joining Barcelona from Arsenal, expectations were Thierry Henry were high and the French forward rarely failed to meet them.
However, after two great seasons at the Camp Nou, Henry soon became a benchwarmer at the club rather than a crucial player due to the emergence of Pedro.
Despite having a year left of his contract, Guardiola opted to sell Henry to New York Red Bulls. There are no bad feelings between the pair and they often chat management and tactics, though Barca fans were shocked when the Frenchman did depart.
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)
As a Barca fan, it was the worst-case scenario for Yaya Toure when he felt he was forced out of the club by Guardiola.
The midfielder was very scarcely used by the newly appointed manager in preference of Sergio Busquets.
Toure told ONA FM: “He pretty much ignored me until City’s offer came in. That’s why I eventually opted to leave. I didn’t speak to Guardiola for a year.
“If he (Guardiola) had talked to me, I would have stayed at Barcelona. I did not want to go and wanted to end my career at Barcelona.”
Little did he know that he would end up being managed by Guardiola again….
Leroy Sane (Man City)
In one of the most significant departures of Guardiola’s City reign, Leroy Sane was sold to Bayern Munich for £37million.
The German winger lit up the Premier League during his time at the Etihad Stadium, however, he was continuously linked with a move to Bayern.
Sane wanted to leave for the German giants promptly and rejected City’s offers of a contract extension, and thus Guardiola was unprepared to keep him against his will and lose him for free so sold him in 2020.
Yaya Toure (Man City)
Yaya Toure’s time at City is fondly remembered by most, but potentially not Guardiola anymore.
The Ivorian midfielder spent eight years with the club and won the Premier League title three times, being included in the PFA Team of the Year twice as well.
After not signing a contract extension with City, Toure left the club a legend. However, his reputation was soon tarnished after he said Guardiola had ‘problems with Africans wherever he goes”.
The manager, of course, denied the claims and Toure has since apologised for his comments.