Life and times of Three Lions footie idiot Raheem
Manchester City star seen gloating in video showing off plush pad just days after England's humiliating Euro 2016 exit
RAHEEM Sterling was once told by a teacher: ‘You’ll either end up in prison or playing for England.’
And while the £49million Manchester City star chose the latter route his short career has been plagued by controversy.
Only last August the 21-year-old was exposed by The Sun for inhaling laughing gas.
The manner of his bitter exit from Liverpool to City last summer left many Reds fans furious with the winger.
The latest controversy saw Sterling show off a multi-million home barely a day after England had crashed out humiliatingly from Euro 2016 to minnows Iceland.
Yet his rise from an impoverished Jamaican district to become English football’s hottest property reveals a prodigious talent.
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Born in the Kingston district of Maverley - where he lived with eight relatives in a cramped bungalow - Sterling moved to the UK with his mother at the age of seven.
Only two years later his absent father would be shot dead back on the Caribbean island.
A family friend revealed to the Sun: “His dad loved him dearly.
“The death left Raheem devastated and his family is still struggling to come to terms with it.”
But Jamaica still holds fond memories for the 26-cap star and he had a million-pound mansion built on the island during his time with Liverpool.
Sterling was educated at the Copland School in the shadow of Wembley’s giant arch.
Chris Beschi, his teacher during those formative years, described a player of exceptional talent who had to choose between a life of crime and his football dream.
He told the : “He found it hilarious how much better he was than you. I played against him everyday. We played with five kids and five adults on each team.
“Having Raheem on your side was better than having an extra adult.
"I don't want to paint him as a fairytale character - a young, urban, naughty boy who turned it all around. But there is an element of truth in that.
“Raheem had the potential to do the wrong thing, to blow it.
"I did say to him that if he carried on the way he was going he would either be playing for England or he'd be in prison.”
West London side Queen’s Park Rangers soon came calling for the youngster, signing him in 2009.
But bigger fish were already circling and Liverpool snapped up Sterling one year later for £500,000.
His whirlwind rise to the top of the English continued at Anfield, where he quickly established himself as a mainstay in a team led by Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez.
Away from the pitch he fathered daughter Melody Rose in 2012.
More worryingly he was filmed inhaling laughing gas last April in a move his Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers described as a mistake.
The Northern Irishman stormed: "I don't think it is something you should be doing, it's as simple as that. Young players make mistakes. As long as they learn from them, that is what is important."
Problems off the pitch did not stop his mercurial rise on it.
A prolific user of social media, Sterling often catalogues his opulent lifestyle with snaps of his exotic purchases and holidays - many featuring girlfriend Paige Milian.
By November 2012 he was making his debut for England, becoming one of the Three Lions’ youngest-ever players and even being named man of the match in his second outing against Denmark.
Turning out in the white of England was already familiar to Sterling, who had represented his country from Under-16 level all the way through to the senior ranks.
Such displays inevitably caught the eye of Europe’s big clubs as he came to be regarded as the continent’s foremost young talent.
Abu Dhabi-owned Man City made a £49m move for Sterling last summer to make him the most expensive British player of all time, all the while paying him an astronomical £180,000-a-week salary.
But he left Liverpool fans and players alike furious when he skipped training and asked to miss the Reds' pre-season tour of Asia in a bid to force the club's hand and sell him.
Yet when his move down the East Lancs Road finally did materialise he struggled to replicate the form of his early career amid City's roster of world stars.
The stagnation of Sterling's career was made all-too-apparent this month when below-par displays for England at the Euros saw him demoted to the bench for the Three Lions' final group game against Slovakia.
And despite being recalled for the country's most humiliating-ever defeat against Iceland on Monday, his apparently carefree Snapchat video has done little to enamour him to fans.
The bizarre video shows Sterling flaunting a plush mansion, including a crystal-encrusted sink and supercar collection, in the immediate aftermath of the Three Lions' insipid display during the 2-1 defeat.
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