Pep Guardiola believes that Manchester City were right to fork out £49m on Raheem Sterling back in July 2015, with the Spaniard quoted in the Daily Star, in the wake of City’s 5-0 Champions League demolition of Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday evening.
Sterling endured a tough debut season in Manchester following his big money move from Liverpool, leading many to question the prudence of the investment.
However, the winger has begun the new campaign in excellent form and proved his worth to City with two assists against Bucharest.
And Guardiola says that, such are Sterling’s undoubted qualities, City were shrewd in their acquisition of the 21-year-old 12 months ago.
He said: “Sterling has a lot of quality, he’s fast, has a good work ethic.
“He’s a fantastic player. That’s why Manchester City were so clever to buy him last season.
“Now Sterling is playing really good. But he’s young and has to learn a lot.”
Guardiola watched on as his side recovered from the early disappointment of seeing an Aguero penalty saved inside the opening 10 minutes to seemingly secure passage to the next round of the Champions League.
David Silva, Nolito and a hat-trick from the Argentine striker ensured that the Citizens have all but confirmed their place in the group stages of the competition.
Guardiola, however, chose to remain coy over his team’s progression into the next phase of the continental tournament.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss added: “We are almost in the Champions League [group stage]. That was our target.
“It was a great performance, great attitudes. The result is amazing.
“I am so satisfied with the way we played – a big compliment to these fantastic players. All the managers in the world want to create chances and concede few.”
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