Uh Yes he would. Sterling barely done anything this season other than that hat trick against Bournemouth. You can't judge a player that you've never watched. I've watched both players so I know my stuff.
Prior to this season:-
Shatov - 253 appearances, 32 goals, mainly in the inferior Russian league.
Sterling - 129 appearances, 23 goals, mainly in one of the toughest leagues in the world.
So, in an easier league, with pretty much twice as many appearances (an additional 124 games), Shatov has scored just 9 more goals. Clearly he's vastly superior. Also, Sterling is 5 years younger. He's also managed to get 18 international caps to date too.
I've not seen most of the Russian league, but I reckon I could guess and say that 99% of the league isn't good enough to play for City without actually watching them. If Shatov was good enough for a team at City's level then, by this stage in his career (he's 25), he'd have left Russia and signed for someone. As I've mentioned, on a few occasions, his stats just don't match up. If he was "better than Sterling" then he'd have been ripping up the Russian league for years. He'd have been scoring double figures in most seasons. He hasn't scored double figures once, and this is his 8th professional season.
You may well have watched both players, but you sure as shit don't know your stuff. You just have a ridiculous hard on for Shatov and can't see that he's an ok footballer, but nothing more than that.