Man City staff really believe Arsenal completed ‘perfect’ transfer during summer window – report | OneFootball

The view from Manchester City staff when news of Raheem Sterling’s deadline-day loan move from Chelsea to Arsenal emerged was that it was a perfect transfer, according to the Times.

The England international reunited with Gunners manager Mikel Arteta having spent two and half seasons together at the Etihad Stadium club, and he could make his debut for Arsenal when they take on Tottenham Hotspur away from home on Sunday.

Sterling played some of his best football due to a one-on-one tutelage under Arteta, with both becoming, and remaining good friends afterwards.

The Arsenal boss pushed for the deal once it became clearer a deal could be done on transfer deadline day and the Gunners ended up signing Sterling without paying a loan fee.

The North London club are paying just £97,500 out of his £325,000 weekly wages at Chelsea, and they will be very glad they got such a deal if the 29-year-old gets back to anywhere near his top form.

Arteta knows how to bring the best out of Sterling, and having such an experienced attacker within their ranks could help boost their title chances this term.

Arsenal are desperate to go one better this term after finishing behind Man City for the second season running in 2023-24, and the addition of the former Liverpool star could come in handy.

A current crisis in midfield ahead of the North London derby could see Sterling get plenty of minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and opening his goalscoring account or assisting to help Arsenal leave with all three points will immediately win the fans over to his side.

The Chelsea-owned attacker has largely divided opinion all through his career, but Arteta has handed him another chance to prove his quality all over again and he would be looking to grab it with both hands.