Pep can seal dream Sterling heir as Man City eye "extraordinary" £86m "pure talent" - opinion

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has coached many players throughout his illustrious managerial career.

The one name that has made more appearances than any other figure to have played under Guardiola is Raheem Sterling.

With 292 appearances under the Spaniard, the winger has scored 120 goals and delivered 85 assists in addition to winning numerous domestic titles with the Citizens.

However, it seems as though the Englishman’s journey at the Etihad Stadium could be coming to an end soon as reports have suggested that Sterling would be open to leaving the club.

Should the 27-year-old find himself waving goodbye to the club this summer, this could force City and Guardiola into having to sign a suitable replacement or heir for him.

One player that the Manchester club have been linked with recently that could fit this bill is AC Milan winger Rafael Leao.

In 115 appearances for the Serie A club, the 23-year-old has scored 27 goals and delivered 21 assists across all competitions.

His latest campaign, which ended with Milan lifting the Serie A title, saw the Portugal international find the net 11 times and supply ten assists in 34 league appearances.

This shows just how capable the player is at scoring and creating goals, in a similar way to Sterling, who has 131 strikes and 95 assists to his name during his time as a City player.

To compare the two players from their latest domestic campaigns, Leao made more successful dribbles, crosses and interceptions than the City star, showing how impressive he is with and without the ball.

Labelled as a “pure talent” by Nuno Gomes, Leao reportedly has a price tag of €100m (£86m), which could be worth paying due to his young age and the fact that he has proven how much of a deadly