Manchester City star Raheem Sterling was subjected to a barrage of vile racist abuse after innocently posting a family snap on Instagram.

The Blues star uploaded a smiling selfie with his little girl and a relative, which he captioned: "Perfect Sunday with my niece and my daughter #LaFam."

But the 20-year-old's comments were hijacked by irate supporters of his former club Liverpool, who posted hate-filled, racist remarks.

One vile user branded the forward a "black c***" adding "f*** your stupid family hope they burn".

Another posted pictures of snakes and bags of cash with the comment: “All about the money init you f***** snake.”

The Mirror reported how an earlier picture Sterling posted of himself and three-year-old daughter Melody enjoying a day out to a child's soft play area drew similar abuse.

One user posted a long line of banana emoticons with the words "f****** disgrace to mankind" while one shamefully branded Sterling a "monkey".

While some fans attacked the young England star for his controversial £49million move, others pleaded with users to stop the hate-filled, racist rants.

One said: “There’s kids on the picture FFS.”

Earlier this year, Sterling’s girlfriend, Paige Milian, had to lock down her social media page after receiving death threats and racist abuse over her boyfriend's transfer.

Sterling scored for City last night in their 3-1 win over Sevilla which secured their qualification into the last 16 of the Champions League - see below for details.