Former Manchester City star Michael Ball believes that Raheem Sterling’s relationship with Pep Guardiola is going “sour” at the Etihad Stadium.

The England international has struggled for minutes at the start of the season.

Sterling has made just four starts in 10 games, with his latest coming against PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

City lost that game 2-0, with goals from Idrissa Gueye and Lionel Messi handing the French giants a huge win at Parc des Princes.

Sterling has only made two starts in the league, against Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, with City failing to win either game, losing to Spurs and drawing with Saints.

Sterling was linked with a move away from the club in the summer transfer window, and a swap deal with Harry Kane at Spurs was mooted.

And Ball does not believe that he is currently trusted by Guardiola, with the former Liverpool star struggling to force his way into the first XI.

He said: “It’s probably been a strange 12 months or so for Raheem. Pep doesn’t seem to be trusting him to be playing in the bigger games. When he does play, he does do well, he’s assisting, he’s scoring goals, but they’re not in the big games that he wants to be playing in.

“It’s not the Champions League, it’s not the big games in the Premier League and that happened last season. He went away with England and did very well, so maybe you’re thinking Pep’s going to give him a bit more trust and get him involved this season but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.

“It’s a relationship, I feel, that’s going sour.”