Raheem Sterling: I want 15 more goals for Manchester City this season

Etihad star reveals his targets when football resumes

Raheem Sterling had a fine goalscoring season before the lockdown, starting with netting City's goal in the Community Shield at Wembley. City drew 1-1 with Liverpool and then won on penalties. Reuters

Sterling opened the Premier League campaign with a hat-trick in the 5-0 win at West Ham. AFP

Raheem Sterling was on target again when City beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in the Champions League. PA

Sterling celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the 2-2 Premier League draw between Manchester City and Tottenham at the Etihad. AFP

Sterling scored the goal against Atalanta in the 1-1 draw at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. AFP

Sterling scores City's third in 3-1 win at Everton. Reuters

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium, with Sterling scoring the first goal. Reuters

Sterling celebrates scoring City's second goal during the 3-1 Premier League win at Bournemouth. AFP

Manchester City beat Atalanta 5-1 at home, and another hat-trick for Sterling. Reuters

Sterling scores City's fifth, and completes his hat-trick, in the 5-1 win over Atalanta in the Champions League. Reuters

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring in the 2-2 draw at Newcastle. Reuters

Raheem Sterling said he is 15 goals adrift of his targets, despite already scoring 20 times this season.

The Manchester City winger feels his time at the Etihad Stadium and his four years of playing for Pep Guardiola have proved that winning matters more than his personal goal tally, but nevertheless outlined how ambitious he was in his aims.

Sterling has not scored in 2020 after failing to find the net in 12 successive games but had been prolific before then as he reached the 20-mark for the third consecutive campaign.

“I would say probably I’m about 15 goals off where I want to be,” he said.

“Those are the targets, to try and create good numbers but at the same time not just have numbers.

"At the end of the day you want to have trophies to back up that season because 10 years from now you can score a lot of goals, but if I can’t look back on those goals as being important for my team and having a great value then those goals were pointless.”

Sterling has won six major trophies in little over two years and said that defeat has hurt him more in recent years.

“During my time at City, the most important thing I have learnt is the value of winning,” he explained.

“Before it was, if I won a game then it was good and if I lost a game, I was disappointed, but it doesn’t burn you as much. Now, if we lose one game in 15 at City you wouldn’t like to be in the dressing room, it is like the worst thing in the world has happened. I think that is a great surrounding.”

He feels Guardiola has changed that mentality as he harked back two years to the time when City had clinched the title but their manager was determined to become the first team in English history to register a century of top-flight points in a season.

Sterling added: “I think that is the most important thing that I have learnt from him, the winning mentality.

"That is his number one thing that I have taken from him, his winning mentality. I remember not last season but the season before, we were so far clear, but he still wanted to get 100 points and that just shows everything about him.”

Another Spaniard to influence him is the City captain David Silva, with Sterling praising the World Cup winner for his attitude.

He said: “One thing I have definitely learnt from David is to be humble. He is the most humble football player you will ever meet in your life and the trophies that he has behind him to back him up just shows you.”

But his original inspiration was Ronaldinho. Sterling explained: “If you check my history on YouTube, I think I have watched every single clip of his playing career. He was a player that I used to go in the garden to try to recreate but it could never be done.”