Raheem Sterling is sitting in the front room of his house deep in the Cheshire countryside, talking about his love for Manchester City, his hopes for England, his nutritional and fitness regime, and running through his conversation like a vivid thread through the tapestry of his life is his love for family.

He talks of his father, who was murdered in Jamaica when Sterling was two. “I think about my father all the time, especially at significant moments like in the 2014 World Cup, the first game, being in my hotel room, saying a prayer.

“I was just reminiscing about my dad, praying and saying, ‘I just wish you could be here, just for a moment, just to see me on the pitch, just to