Raheem Sterling paved the way for his Arsenal transfer ten years ago at Liverpool

With a Raheem Sterling loan to Arsenal becoming the talk of transfer deadline day, Liverpool fans could reminisce about the last time the mercurial winger was linked to the London-based club.

In 2015, a then 20-year-old Sterling turned down a £100,000-a-week (over $130,000) contract renewal with the Reds amid rumors he was angling for a way out. Arsenal , Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were all rumored to be interested.

He sat down with the BBC in early April and uttered a line that caught headlines, claiming he doesn't want to be seen as a "money-grabbing 20-year-old."

However, Sterling gave some other quotes in the same interview that reveal why he might have been pushing for loan move to Arsenal instead of remaining frozen out at Chelsea.

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"It's never been about money. I talk about winning trophies throughout my career. That's all I talk about," Sterling said in the 2015 interview . "I don't talk about how many cars I'm going to drive, how many houses I've got. I just purely want to be the best I can be."

The former England international found himself frozen out of Enzo Maresca's Chelsea side , having not featured in any of their Premier League or Conference League qualifiers so far.

“I am not saying Raheem is not a good player, but I prefer different kinds of wingers,” Maresca said when asked about the player. Sterling currently has three years remaining on his Chelsea day at £300,000-a-week (close to $400,000).

A move to Arsenal demonstrates that Sterling is not content to just see out his contract on the Chelsea bench. Instead, he's content putting his ego aside and moving to a lesser role in a strong Arsenal side who will push for titles this year.

Sterling has won practically everything in football outside of the UEFA Champions League : 4x Premier Leagues, 5x League Cups, 1x FA Cup, the 2014 Golden Boy award (while at Liverpool), and the 2018-19 PFA Young Player of the Year.

A move to Arsenal, a team battling for the Premier League title and desperate to get over the line, offered an opportunity to keep adding silverware to his collection.

Sterling also has a strong relationship with Arteta, who was an assistant manager at Manchester City alongside the forward for several seasons.

“My time with Raheem was exceptional," Arteta said recently of Sterling . "We built a really strong relationship together. He was unbelievable at that time. He taught me a lot as well, about individuals, how the players think, how we support them. He is someone I have really strong feelings about"