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IMPACT: Sterling

LIVERPOOL ACADEMY starlet Raheem Sterling has signed his first professional contract at the club.
Sterling, who is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, turned 17 on December 8.

The pacey winger spent seven years as a youth player at QPR before Liverpool signed him in February 2010 for an initial fee of £600,000, which could increase to £5million depending on how many first-team appearances he makes for the Merseyside club.

Sterling is one of the most talked about players in the academy and Liverpool legend Ian Rush tipped him to make the breakthrough, stating: “There is one young lad, Raheem Sterling. He is only 17. He is similar to Michael Owen at that age.”

After joining Liverpool, Sterling made an immediate impact, scoring on his under-18s debut against Everton. He then went on to score five against Southend in a 9-0 FA Youth Cup thrashing at Anfield in February 2011.

He has made two substitute appearances for the first-team; at the age of just 15 he played against Borussia Monchengladbach in a pre-season friendly in 2010 and on August 2011, he replaced Stewart Downing in a friendly against Valerenga.

Sterling has also represented England at youth level, although his mother, Nadine, admitted that she hopes he will one day play for Jamaica: “I'm a true-born Jamaican and I love Jamaica so much. I always tell him that I would love to see him represent and play in my colours, his colours. So, of course, I would love to see him play for Jamaica one day."