Raheem Sterling Did Not Consider Deadline Day Move to Arsenal for 'One Minute'
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has revealed that he did not consider the possibility of a deadline day move to Arsenal for "one minute".
The England international was linked with a switch to the Emirates as a potential replacement for Alexis Sanchez, who was expected to go in the opposite direction.
But Sterling has insisted that he did not believe any of the rumours and trusted the word of coach Pep Guardiola.
"I didn't need to speak with him [Guardiola] because I had already spoken to him during the summer about pre-season," he said, quoted by talkSPORT
"I didn't have any negative thoughts or anything bad about it. I just woke up one day with England and saw it, and I didn't believe a word of it until I heard something from the manager, then I would believe it.
"It wasn't something I was worried about because Pep is an honest guy, and he would have spoken to me about it before that. So I didn't need to worry about it, and I didn't think about it, not for one minute."
Sterling, who joined City from Liverpool for £44m in 2015, also stressed that he has no intention of a move in the near future.
"I signed for five years here," he said. "I've got two-and-a-half years left, and I see myself here and playing my football here under a great manager with a great team."
The 22-year-old has benefited greatly from the tutorship of Guardiola, and he has praised the impact of the Catalan coach.
"He's been massive for me, especially with the simple stuff," Sterling added. "He always tries to get you to do the simple stuff at the top level and that is the real genius thing about him. He makes sure you do the simple things and it works."
