There are certain players in football that walk a fine line between on the edge and out of control. Manchester City has been one of the clubs that has given this type of player a chance to compete on the biggest stages, despite some of their off the field issues. Following the acquisition of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, it will be interesting to see if Raheem Sterling is going to develop into a “bad boy” at Manchester City.
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The player could have simply been unhappy at Liverpool and went about securing a transfer in an immature way. Also, there is a chance that Sterling is just a 20-year-old kid that has not matured into an adult. However, after City dishes out nearly £50 million for his services, Sterling will need to grow up fast if he wants to become a star at the Etihad.
Like Sterling’s former Liverpool teammate, Mario Balotelli was a controversial player during his time at Manchester City. From 2010-2012, Balotelli was a member of Manchester City, winning a Barclays Premier League trophy in 2012. The Italian played a key role in City’s revival as one of the elite teams in Europe.
Partnering with Balotelli, Carlos Tevez was another bad boy that helped Manchester City return to the top of the Premier League table. Prior to Sterling, Tevez was the most expensive transfer in the history of the club. After his move from bitter rival Manchester United, Tevez spent four seasons at Manchester City, including the first of two Premier League title winning seasons in 2012. Tevez scored 20 or more goals in his first two seasons at City and became a superstar at the club.
However, the bad sides of both players came out later in their City careers. For Balotelli, off-field and on-pitch issues led to disagreements with the coaching staff. After Balotelli was fined two weeks of wages, he attempted to take City to tribunal. He dropped the dispute, but eventually moved away from the Etihad early in 2013.
Meanwhile, Carlos Tevez has a series of unfortunate events with City towards the end. First, according to The Daily Mail, he refused to come off the bench against Bayern Munich during a UEFA Champions League match. This resulted in Tevez taking a leave from the team during the Premier League season. Rumors suggested that Tevez spent the time off golfing in Argentina. Regardless, the turmoil led to Tevez leaving City to join Juventus in 2013.
This leads us to Raheem Sterling. Bad boys have thrived at Manchester City in the past. In the past year, Sterling has had a highly-publicized contract dispute. On top of that, The Daily Mail reported that Sterling had been pictured smoking from a shisha pipe and inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon. Sterling clearly has a bad boy side to him. Can he walk the fine line and use this edge to his advantage? Or, is he simply an immature kid with immense footballing talent that will be able to put this behind him and become a world-class professional for Manchester City?
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