Manuel Pellegrini has lavished praise on Raheem Sterling following his fine display against AS Roma.

Sterling made his debut for Manchester City against the Italians in the International Champions Cup clash at the MCG on Tuesday night and the winger managed to make an instant impact when finding the net just 3 minutes into the game.

Apart from the goal, Man of the Match Sterling delivered a very good overall performance, prompting praise from manager Pellegrini following the game.

Pellegrini told reporters: "He demonstrated why he's here. He is a very young player so I think he will improve a lot in the future playing with Yaya Toure, David Silva and Kun Aguero. I'm very happy for him, and for our team to buy him.

"Good players always link immediately when they know how to play. Immediately David found a good striker who was making good movements. At the moment we have complete midfielders, very technical players, and I think he will benefit from that. I'm happy about the future we are going to have as a team."