Manchester City midfielder Raheem Sterling has revealed how his Mum stopped him from joining Arsenal as a junior player.

Mrs Sterling had the foresight to know her son could be lost in the Gunners youth system.

Sterling wrote for the Players' Tribune: "When I was 10 or 11, I was getting scouted by some big clubs in London. Fulham wanted me. Arsenal wanted me. And when Arsenal want you, of course you're thinking you gotta go there. Biggest club in London, you know? So I'm running around telling my mates, 'I'm off to the Arsenal!'.

"But my Mum is a proper warrior. She knows how to make it in this world. She's probably the most streetwise person I know. She sat me down one day, and she said, 'Look, I love you. But I don't feel you should go to Arsenal'.

"I said, 'Ehhhh?'

"She said, 'If you go there, there's going to be 50 players who are just as good as you. You'll just be a number. You need to go somewhere where you can work your way up'."