Everything said as pundits disagree over Chelsea star Raheem Sterling’s comments on Manchester City exit

Former Premier League stars Micah Richards and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had differing views over comments made by Chelsea star Raheem Sterling earlier this week.

The England forward revealed he was left ‘fuming and raging’ by the manner of his departure from Manchester City this summer after he made a £47.5million move to Stamford Bridge.

The move to Chelsea ended Sterling’s seven-season stay with City as he became a three-time Premier League winner, a four-time Carabao Cup winner and also celebrated a single FA Cup Final win.

Despite being viewed as a key player in Pep Guardiola’s squad, Sterling made just 23 starts as City claimed the third and final Premier League title win of his time at the Etihad Stadium last season.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s visit to Leeds United, he reflected on his time at City and revealed his thoughts on his final months with the club.

He said: “Everyone wants to feel wanted, football is no different”.

“When you play your heart out, sacrifice some of your kids' birthdays, and then get treated in a certain way, it's disappointing.

“At the time I was fuming, raging, but it's gone, it's in the past and I can only focus on the present, which is now, here at Chelsea, and the opportunity I've got here to go out and showcase my talents once again.”

The comments have provoked much debate over the last few days and it was no different in the Sky Sports studio as former Chelsea star Hasselbaink and ex-City defender Richards discussed Sterling forthright views.

Here is everything said by the former Premier League stars:

Richards: “I’m not surprised about the way he came out because we always ask players to be honest in interviews and I think over the last couple of years he has done that really well.

“In terms of the broken promises, when you go to Man City, no-one is promised anything.

“You look at Aguero, the way he ended, he thought he should have been playing.

“Pep is all about the team and I just think Raheem, for me he’s a Man City legend.

“He’s won four Premier League titles and he talks about his broken promises, but I looked at his stats, he made 47 appearances last season, wins the Premier League and, yes, in some games he will be frustrated by not playing.

“Man City are evolving and if you don’t fit into that plan, you’ve got to suck it up.  It’s very tough for any player, especially the striker, in the league, he’s scored one season 20, the next season 18, another season, 17.

“These are amazing numbers, but this is Man City, and it’s a team game.”

Hasselbaink: “It’s a team game, and you need to win matches, but as a manager, you promise players all of the time, but sometimes, things change, just in the game, that you can’t control.

“You need to adapt and you need to make decisions, and I think that is what Pep has done is wrong because he has won the league.

“He has done something right and if that means Sterling has to sit on the bench for a few games, then Pep is doing the right thing.

“For Sterling, it’s a decision to make, and I think he’s made the right decision to go to a club where he is going to appreciated, where he is going to be their main player.”

Richards: “But he was appreciated at Man City, inside the club, and around the club, he’s been brilliant.

“He has got that by the games he’s played and I think sometimes, other players may have got more love from Pep, but we can only go off games and what he’s done.”

Hasselbaink: “I think Pep was always looking past Sterling and how he was handling the situation, how he was handling Sterling, to eventually let Sterling go.

“How he was setting his team up, when he was taking him off, when he was playing in certain positions, when he was playing on the right and then he was playing on the left, he was playing through the middle.

“The body language and stuff, he was never really the main man, the main player at Man City and I always thought he was going to go.

“He wants to be the Kevin De Bruyne, he wants to be the Rodri, he wants to be a player that is always number one.”