- Raheem Sterling is already as good as both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to former Manchester City and England star Trevor Sinclair.
- Sterling has managed eight goals in just 10 games for both Manchester City and England this season, including two in England's recent victories over Bulgaria and Kosovo.
- "He's the best player playing for England and he's the first player on the team sheet for Pep Guardiola," Sinclair told TalkSPORT. "The big question now is where do you put him with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo? I would put him right amongst them. He's there now."
- Messi and Ronaldo have been soccer's stand-out performers over the last 15 years, managing nearly 700 goals each for club and country and both winning a record five Ballon d'Or awards.
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Raheem Sterling is already as good as both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
That's according to former Manchester City and England star Trevor Sinclair.
Sterling, 24, has enjoyed a blistering start to the new campaign, managing eight goals in just 10 games for both club and country - a total that puts him well on track to beat last season's tally of 19.
The Manchester City star excelled for England during the recent international break, scoring two and assisting a further three in comprehensive wins over Bulgaria and Kosovo, and Sinclair believes he's now seen enough of the ex-Liverpool man to put him on the same level as Messi and Ronaldo.
"Raheem Sterling is right at the top of the tree, for me. If he's not worth £200 million ($246 million) now, I'd be surprised," Sinclair told TalkSPORT on Wednesday.
"He's the best player playing for England and he's the first player on the team sheet for Pep Guardiola.
"The big question now is where do you put him with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo? I would put him right amongst them. He's there now."
Messi and Ronaldo have been Europe's two stand out players over the past decade-and-a-half, winning a record five Ballon d'Or awards each since 2008.
Since beginning their careers in the early noughties, Messi has scored an astonishing 698 goals for FC Barcelona and Argentina, winning 34 major honours.
Ronaldo has managed an equally impressive 695 goals, and picked up 29 major honours with Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and Portugal.
Sterling's respective totals of 108 and six seem meek in comparison, but at only 24 years old, Sinclair, who played 98 times for Manchester City between 2003-2007, believes the flying forward can match those achievements if he keeps up his good form.
"[Messi and Ronaldo] have been doing it and are still doing it for 15 years and he's only just started.
"But if he continues in this form he's showing, people are going to start talking about him being the best player in the world and I think he's deserved that honour."
Sterling joined Manchester City from Liverpool for $60 million in the summer of 2015, but after struggling to make an instant impact, has come into his own since the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola in 2017.
The Spaniard's side next take on Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday September 14.
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