Rodgers played a key role in the Manchester City star’s development when he was in charge of Liverpool.
It was under Kenny Dalglish that Sterling made his debut for the Reds in 2012, however the England international truly began to flourish under Rodger’s guidance.
And he eventually made a £50m switch to the Etihad in 2015, with his wages now reported to be around £180,000-a-week.
Rodgers, now in the hot seat at Celtic, has revealed he tried to keep Sterling on as low a wage as possible in his time at Anfield.
"There is one common denominator when it comes to young players falling by the wayside - money," he told the Daily Express.
"It distorts reality, it changes people. I'm always cautious of that.
"I had Raheem Sterling playing for England and a regular in the Liverpool first team on £2,000-a-week.
"I couldn't do it any longer than about the November time because he was absolutely brilliant, so we had to get him on a different contract.
"But I stretched it out as long as I could."
The Welshman believes club’s must be patient in giving young players large sums of money.
He added: "With young players, one, they have to earn it and, two, you don't go overboard with them because they have played a couple of good games.
"Stay calm. See how consistent and professional they are, and if they are doing well they will always get rewarded.
"Let them get some games in their legs and go from there."
