Raheem Sterling and Pep Guardiola 'Bust-up' Reason for Lack of Minutes

Sterling and Pep Guardiola ‘Bust-up’ Cause of Limited Minutes

Sterling and Guardiola Dispute Came After Southampton Game in March

Speaking to OTBSports, Lee explained that Sterling was dropped after a poor performance against Manchester United and did not react well in his manager’s eyes.

Rumours circulated of an argument between the two, which were far-fetched and swiftly denied on Twitter by Sterling.

Some crazy rumours on socials today… That’s absolutely FALSE. Looking forward to a big week with the team. Have a good night lads 🙌🏾

— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) March 14, 2021

Although the rumours about the incident weren’t true, there was a dispute between the two, Lee explained: “Someone did a spoof of those rumours [of the bust-up] that were so ridiculous Sterling then went on Twitter [to deny them].

As far as I know, there was a row with Guardiola before that Southampton game. He was left out of the team. He wasn’t very happy about it. Guardiola sent one of his little coded messages after the Southampton game”

“Sterling seemingly failed to improve the situation with his manager in time for City’s next match against Fulham. On Sterling’s omission from that game, Lee said: “Pretty obvious from [Guardiola’s] answers after the game that something had gone on and there was a reason he was left back in Manchester. He came on in the Borussia Monchengladbach game, but he didn’t start that either.

“Since then he’s had opportunities to get back into the team. Maybe [he is still missing out] because of the performances, missing a few chances and being quite wasteful on the ball, and because of his reaction to being dropped. You can’t do that under Guardiola – if you lose out on the team you get your head down and work hard.”

Sterling Faces ‘Challenge’ After ‘Bust-up’

On the significance of this argument, Lee said: “It was a fairly sizeable bust-up, I think. No huge, because he’s come back and he’s played. The fact that he was left out altogether against Fulham is normally one of the Pep warning shots. He left out Sane, he left out Mahrez a couple of times for similar [incidents]. I think Sterling’s reaction may have been a little more angry.

“Earlier in the season, Laporte didn’t take too kindly to being left out of the team either. He was rehabilitated back into the team. He got his chances. That’s the challenge for Sterling.”

The 26-year-old will likely be eager to be involved in tomorrow’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, as several crucial games lie ahead for City. While players such as Laporte and Mahrez have been reintegrated with the team after disputes with Guardiola, Leroy Sane’s departure serves as an example of how things can go sour when the Spaniard falls out with players.