Now, a decade later, Cole who is working as part of Chelsea’s pre-season tour to the United States was one of the people greeting our newest signing as he arrived for his first training session in Los Angeles.

Not only does the former Blues no.10 remember Raheem well from their shared time at Anfield, nowadays with his work analysing big games on TV he has watched the exciting attacker closely on many occasions.

Cole shares his thoughts with us here and begins by recalling the young, emerging player when they were team-mates.

‘He's a great man now but was a great kid,’ he says. ‘He was very mature, very driven and a fantastic talent. He was one of those where you expected him to become a player.

‘The longevity he has had is incredible and he’s still young. Arguably, Chelsea could be getting him in his best years.

‘Raheem is a leader, a quiet leader,’ he adds, ‘and he gives us experience in that area of the pitch. We have it with Thiago and Azpi at the back, but now we have more at the other end of the pitch.’

Cole continues by listing the qualities he sees in the modern-day Sterling.

‘His dynamism, he makes things happen, his running behind. He is a fantastic timer of runs into the box and is technically very good. He can take a man out with his dribbling which is vital. He is an all-rounder, he gets goals, he makes goals. He makes a difference in big games, that's what we need.’

Our former England international star, as expected, appreciates a player who can beat his man in one-v-ones, but not only because he was so good at it during his career.

‘At the end of the day, tactics are tactics,’ he explains, ‘but you need some people in the final third, or the middle third, who are able to break the line of teams. You need players who can drive with a ball. Chelsea have it in midfield with Mateo and Mason, and in the front area of pitch there are Timo, Kai, Christian Pulisic and now it is being strengthened further with Raheem.

‘He's probably looked at Chelsea and thought there's an opportunity for me to be the main man here. I think it’s Raheem wanting a new challenge.

‘I'm excited, it’s the first signing of the new era and it is what I call a signing for now. You're not concerned about there being a period of adjustment. There might be but you're buying someone to produce the goods in the first game of the season.’