Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/541394
22 THE 20-year-old, who will wear the number seven shirt, has be- come the club's record signing and the most expensive English footballer after sealing a move which will be worth up to £49mil- lion. A statement released on the club's official website said: "Manchester City are delighted to announce Raheem Sterling has joined the club on a five-year deal. "The 20-year-old England inter- national's transfer is a club record fee for an English player and he also becomes City's record sign- ing." The announcement came on Tuesday evening after Sterling had passed a medical and com- pleted the remaining formalities of the deal, and he will f ly out to meet up with his new team-mates in Australia within the next 24 hours. Manager Manuel Pellegrini was delighted to finally get his hands on the player after a prolonged pursuit. He said: "Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in world football and I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week. "He is a young player with out- standing ability and I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team." News of Sterling's departure from Anfield was also confirmed by Liverpool in an announcement on their official website. It said: "Liverpool Football Club can confirm Raheem Sterling has completed a transfer to Manches- ter City. The 20-year-old departs Anfield after 129 appearances and 23 goals for the Reds. "Liverpool FC wishes Raheem well." City's interest in Sterling has been an open secret for some time, but the Reds were desperate to re- tain his services as they braced themselves for an approach. However, they were fighting a losing battle from the moment he told boss Brendan Rodgers he wanted to leave following his re- turn for pre-season training, and his request not to be included in the party for the club's pre-season trip to Australia and the Far East sparked claims of a bust-up, some- thing the Jamaica-born attacking midfielder's camp has strenuously denied. Liverpool rejected a series of of- fers from City as they held out for their #50million valuation of their prize asset, but the two clubs even- tually reached agreement and pro- ceedings moved on swiftly with both now well into their prepara- tions for the new campaign. Sterling began his career at QPR and joined the Reds for an initial fee of #600,000 as a 15-year-old in 2010. He was handed a senior debut as a 17-year-old and was twice named the club's young Player of the year. Sterling will now face the pros- pect of competing with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Wilfried Bony, Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri, Je- sus Navas and David Silva at the spearhead of a City side which fin- ished a distant second to Barclays Premier League champions Chel- sea last season. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 JULY 2015 Sport WATER POLO FOOTBALL Two BOV Water Polo Players of the Month for June 2015 Nicky Grixti and Steven Camilleri win BOV Premier Award. BOV First Division Award goes to Claudio Spiteri Debarro TWO players have been awarded the BOV Water Polo Premier League Player of the Month title, a first since the commencement of this award. Stevie Camilleri (Neptunes Grimaldi) and Nicky Grixti (Sirens Ritter Sport) won the award for the BOV Premier Division. Camilleri certainly needs no introduction, having won this award on numerous occa- sions. The Neptunes attacker scored no less than 17 goals for Neptunes during June to maintain the pressure at the top of the table. Sirens' goalkeeper Nicholas Grixti 's string of spectacular saves also earned him the June award. The U19 national team captain was instrumental in Sirens victory over Sliema, and repeatedly denied league leaders San Giljan, losing nar- rowly by one goal. Marsaxlokk Fischer's Claudio Spiteri Debarro was on tar- get for the BOV First Division Award. Consistent perform- ances which include 5 goals in Marsaxlokk 's first game against Otters landed this individual award for Claudio. Paul Gauci, Executive Head BOV Training and Education from Bank of Valletta and Joe Caruana Curran, President of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta presented the awards to the winners. Marsaxlokk Fischer's Claudio Spiteri Debarro (R) receiving the award from Paul Gauci, Executive Head BOV Training and Education from Bank of Val- letta and Joe Caruana Curran, President of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta Stevie Camilleri receives his award Nicholas Grixti receives his award Manchester City seal Sterling swoop Manchester City have announced the record signing of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool on a five-year contract Raheen Sterling (R) will wear the number seven shirt