Raheem Sterling made a public declaration of his faith by getting baptised ahead of his first north London derby. 

Sunday's crunch match between Arsenal and Tottenham is set to be the 29-year-old's first in the Gunners squad after sealing a loan move from Chelsea.

The England international had been jettisoned by the Blues and was desperate to find a move elsewhere.

As his omission from international duty continued, Sterling took the time away from the field to perform the Christian initiation, which involved a full-body immersion in water.

The Sun quote a source close to the player as saying Sterling understood the act was a 'public declaration of his faith' and 'an opportunity to cleanse himself of any ego, or bad habits of the past.'

Injuries and suspensions could see Sterling handed his first start by Mikel Arteta at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Gunners boss refused to rule skipper Martin Odegaard out of the clash despite him picking up what looked to be a serious injury while playing for Norway in midweek. 

Declan Rice will definitely miss the game after being dismissed in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brighton before the break. 

Sterling's move to north London has seen him reunite with Arteta, who he worked with while the former midfielder was Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. 

Last week, Arteta revealed how he picked up the phone and offered Sterling the lifeline of joining Arsenal. 

'The first call I had with him, I knew in the first ten seconds we have to bring him because he really wanted it.' He told reporters. 'That was my only question mark: "What stage is he at in his career?" 

'After 10 seconds, I knew already before the next questions that we needed him here.

'What I see is hunger. He's a player that wants to play every minute of every game.

'You can feel it walking through the door. We are better with him. He's going to make us better.'