The agent of Raheem Sterling has claimed that Brendan Rodgers was the reason that his client wanted to leave Liverpool.

Sterling agitated for a move away from Anfield for the majority of the summer before making a £49m switch to Manchester City, with the
England winger reportedly being asked to be left off the club's pre-season tour of the Far East after missing training for two days running, citing illness.

The 20-year-old's representative, Aidy Ward, has since stated that Rodgers was key in Sterling's decision to leave the five-time European Cup winners.

"It started from the PR behind Liverpool. There is no issue with the fans there, they don't know the full story, and there are lots of good people at Liverpool," he told the Daily Mail.

"I had no problem with [chief executive] Ian Ayre, for example. I have no issue with anyone but Rodgers. He had a massive job with massive funds.

"How did he do? Good coach, but as a manager I didn't like certain things about how he dealt with Raheem."

Sterling scored a hat-trick for his new club as they beat Bournemouth 5-1 on Saturday.