RAHEEM STERLING got the royal seal of approval on Tuesday — now England fans should start treating him like a king.
Shaun Wright-Phillips believes Sterling is underappreciated by supporters because he is unfairly judged against world-class strikers, when he is actually a winger.
Manchester City star Sterling spent time with Prince William in the Caribbean earlier this week and will report for England duty today.
He was given permission by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate to join his team-mates a day late, after answering the personal invite from the Duke of Cambridge.
Sterling, who has Jamaican heritage, found his chances at City limited either side of the summer break last year.
However, City chief Pep Guardiola began using him as a makeshift centre-forward after the departure of Sergio Aguero.
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And Sterling, 27, has played his part in keeping City challenging on three fronts — scoring his 14th goal of the season in Sunday’s 4-1 FA Cup win at Southampton.
It is a decent tally considering he has started just 24 games this term and had little experience of playing down the middle before this.
Former City star Wright-Phillips said: “Everyone says that it was a blip last year but people sometimes forget he’s still young. They forget he’s a winger that is now classed as a striker.
“His game changed a lot under Pep and you can say, in a way, it’s made him a lot better.
“He is an elite player now and people just need to start seeing that.”
It has been a season of highs and lows for the former Liverpool man.
He started just three of City’s first 11 league games, managing only one goal.
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And then there was talk of Barcelona making a January move for the out-of-sorts star.
Sterling got his head down and was back on the goal trail again in November — and he has played his part in the champions’ trophy charge.
But earlier this month he was left out of the starting XI for the Manchester derby and was also benched for the goalless draw at Crystal Palace in the team’s last Premier League match.
Wright-Phillips, 40, believes Sterling will still have a huge role to play in what promises to be an exciting run-in.
SWP added: “Players have ups and downs. Even when he was not necessarily a player in form, he’d still get in positions and create chances.
“All that’s happened now is he’s doing exactly the same thing.
“And he’s creating for himself, he’s winning penalties for the team and he’s scoring goals.
“That’s perfect and just the Sterling everybody knows and loves.”
The arrival of Jack Grealish for a British record £100million in the summer placed a question mark over Sterling’s future at the club.
Yet his Three Lions team-mate has not found it easy either since leaving boyhood club Aston Villa in search of silverware.
Grealish has been given plenty of opportunities by Guardiola — with 25 starts — but City fans are still waiting to see the best of him.
Critics have been quick to jump on him due to the enormous price tag — but Wright-Phillips has told him not to take any notice of the criticism.
The former Chelsea man — who made a big-money move to Stamford Bridge from City before returning later in his career — said: “Don’t pay attention to what anybody says outside of the game.
“Only listen to what Pep says. If Pep is happy, then get on with it.“And the same with compliments too, yeah.
“Of course, it’s nice to hear compliments but compliments can last up to 24 hours.
“There’s still another game and minds can change. So for me, if he’s been told that he’s doing well, he just needs to keep doing what the manager asks of him.”
Guardiola has previously told Grealish not to worry too much about the stats — and just four goals this season is a meagre return.
But SWP agrees that his displays have been better than the numbers suggest and insists the goals and assists will start to flow given time.He added: “When you get bought for £100m then of course you’re in that elite category.
“But he’s come from a team where he used to get on the ball all the time. He’s come to a City team full of stars that want the ball just as much as him.
“So, I think he’s doing well. But he probably wants to give more and has the ability to do that.”
