€35m market value 

©IMAGO

It seems crazy to think that a player who was such a key component for both England and Pep Guardiola’s serial winning Manchester City just two seasons ago, is now surplus to requirements in a largely struggling Chelsea team. But that is very much the case. Raheem Sterling was one of the high profile players left out of the Blues squad for their opening two games of the season. Chelsea have signed Pedro Neto and João Félix this summer, who could both feasibly play in Sterling’s position.

Following the decision to leave him out for their Premier League opener against Man City, Sterling’s camp released a statement saying “He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach. Given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity. We have always had positive dialogue with Chelsea in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.” Sterling has scored 19 goals and provided 12 assists in 81 games for Chelsea since joining from Man City in 2022.

Who could Raheem Sterling sign for before the transfer window shuts?

Reports suggest that Manchester United have held talks over a deal to sign Sterling from Chelsea before Friday night’s deadline. The 29-year-old winger has been training away from the first-team squad after being told by Blues boss Enzo Maresca that he will struggle for minutes at the club. United sources have stressed that any deal will be on their terms, with winger Jadon Sancho known to have admirers at Chelsea, and likely to go the other way to Stamford Bridge in any deal that takes place. Sterling is known to be a childhood United fan, which may sway him in favour of a move to Old Trafford. 

On Thursday the Independent reported that Arsenal had joined the race to sign the former England international, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta still a fan of the wide forward having worked with him when the Spaniard was Guardiola’s assistant coach at Man City. However, the report warns that the north London club would be unwilling to pay a fee for Sterling and could only afford to pay him less than half what he currently makes at Chelsea. If either deal was to go through he would become just the second player in Premier League history to play for four of the traditional ‘Big six’ clubs, alongside former Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka. Sterling spent 10 years in the north west, first at Liverpool, then Man City, where he won 10 major trophies, before he joined Chelsea in a €56.2 million deal two years ago. He has a current market value of €35m.