Kevin De Bruyne has admitted he had an incorrect view of Raheem Sterling before he met his former Manchester City teammate.
De Bruyne has missed the majority of the season through injury but recently returned to action in the FA Cup after a spell on the sidelines.
It didn't take long for the Belgian to strut his stuff, grabbing an assist for Jeremy Doku after coming on as a substitute in the second half in City's 5-0 win against Huddersfield.
The midfielder has become a much-loved figure at City since joining in 2015, but has admitted he had reservations about some of his teammates when he first arrived at Etihad.
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The 32-year-old's opinion of Raheem Sterling stands out, considering the fruitful partnership the pair enjoyed throughout their time together at City.
Back in 2019, De Bruyne wrote in The Players' Tribune: "I am a brutally honest person, so I will let you in on a little secret.
"Before I came to Manchester City, I didn’t really know what to make of this Raheem Sterling guy.
"The tabloids were always claiming that he was arrogant, so I guess I thought he'd be… A bit of a d***head, maybe?"
Sterling and De Bruyne joined City in the same summer window in 2015 and both players had experienced criticism from the media prior to their arrival in Manchester.
De Bruyne admits he had a pre-conceived view of Sterling which couldn't have been further from the truth.
"Then I got to City and I actually met Raheem, and we’d talk a bit after training, and I thought, wait, this guy seems really cool? What’s the story here?," he added.
"Over time, I got closer to Raheem, because our sons were born around the same time, so they would always play together.
De Bruyne concluded: "This is the real truth: Raheem is one of the nicest, most humble guys I’ve met in football."
Topics: Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City, Football, Premier League
Tom Jenkins