Moroccan forward, Adel Taarabt has revealed he was idolised by Manchester City winger, Raheem Sterling during their time together at Queens Park Rangers (QPR).
Taarabt spent six years at Loftus Road after joining, initially on loan, from Tottenham in 2009, going on to make 164 appearances for the club.
His first year in west London coincided with Sterling’s time at QPR’s academy, before he was signed by Rafael Benitez and Liverpool in February 2010.
Taarabt, now at Portuguese side Benfica, claims a teenage Raheem Sterling, at the time, looked up to him.
“Raheem Sterling texted me a few months ago. I was listening to an interview where he said I was his idol at QPR,” he told FourFourTwo.
“These days it would be Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, but when he was a kid he watched me!”
Taarabt went on to win the Championship Player of the Year award in 2010-11 as QPR won the second tier title to earn promotion to the Premier League.