Am very happy Arsenal didn't sign Sterling

While 72-year-old Lord Harris admits that the Manchester City new-boy is a very good player, he believes that Arsene Wenger was put off by the winger's behaviour at Liverpool

Arsenal director Lord Harris has revealed why Arsene Wenger decided not to pursue a deal for Raheem Sterling, citing his "nonsense" behaviour in engineering a transfer.

The 20-year-old moved to Manchester City in a £49 million (€70m) deal from Liverpool earlier in July but was heavily criticised for the manner in which he and agent Aidy Ward forced through the move, snubbing contract talks, calling in sick and threatening to boycott the Reds' pre-season tour.

And Lord Harris says that Wenger took note of Sterling's conduct and was not impressed by the way in which he treated Liverpool, with the 72-year-old delighted that the club passed up the opportunity to sign the England international.

"Sterling is a very, very good player but I'm very pleased Arsenal didn’t sign him," Lord Harris told the Daily Mail.

"He's got a lot to learn. They were looking at him and the way he treated Liverpool wasn't good. Arsene does a lot of work on the players before they get to us and he doesn't take any nonsense."

Sterling scored on his first appearance for Manchester City in the International Champions Cup, firing past Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis after just three minutes.

Wenger's snubbing of the winger, meanwhile, will not be due to a lack of funds, with Lord Harris also revealing that Arsenal have £200m (€280m) sitting in the bank and can afford any player on the planet.