If I lose the ball, I want to get on it as quickly as possible and make up for it, whereas before, I would hide away and maybe only look for the ball 10 minutes later. I don't want to give the defenders any break.

When the time is right I have a laugh and a joke with my friends on a day off, but I have had to make sacrifices, and in that sense it's been a huge step forward, completely different to how it was before. I was 18 when the manager spoke to me. I realised I'm not like any other teenager. I can't be doing stuff any other 18 or 19-year-old was doing.

I sat down with my agent and went through my youth-team video footage. I saw that when I started, I'd get on the ball and within two touches would turn straight away and look to attack my opponent, but when I got into the first team, I would go for the safer option.

Raheem Sterling Quotes