Sterling, once tipped to surpass Messi and Ronaldo, is now a free agent at 31

Raheem Sterling is a free agent at 31, a jarring reality for a player Xavi Hernandez once predicted would surpass Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best footballer on the planet. The winger’s career has unravelled sharply since his peak years at Manchester City, leaving him without a club and facing a court appearance on November 25 after admitting to dangerous driving and possessing nitrous oxide following a Lamborghini crash in May.

Sterling emerged at Liverpool in 2012 as one of English football’s most exciting teenage prospects before joining City in 2015, where Pep Guardiola transformed him into a genuinely world-class wide forward. Between 2017 and 2020, he scored 76 goals across three seasons at the Etihad — a run of form that prompted Xavi, then still playing, to single him out as the heir apparent to the sport’s two dominant figures.

“Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the best player in the world awards for so many years now, it’s hard to remember a time before them,” Xavi said at the time. “You look at young players who can be crowned the future best in the world and you still think of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, and of course Sterling. I look at the moment — and Sterling is winning that race. He’s still young and can be the world’s best.”

Sterling left City having won four Premier League titles, five League Cups, and the FA Cup, but Guardiola’s evolving tactical approach had already begun to marginalise him in his final two seasons. A move to Chelsea in search of a more central role never produced the results he had hoped for, and he was frozen out by head coach Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge before a loan spell at Arsenal also failed to reignite his career.

A subsequent stint at Feyenoord proved equally disappointing, and Sterling now finds himself unattached, with his driving disqualification adding further complications ahead of his next court hearing. The contrast with the player Xavi was describing just a few years ago is stark — and serves as a reminder of how quickly fortunes can shift even for those once considered generational talents.