Raheem Sterling saga sums up Chelsea chaos as club face battle to offload £50m star

Evening Standard

·19 August 2024

Raheem Sterling saga sums up Chelsea chaos as club face battle to offload £50m star

Blues’ bloated squad symbolises messy transfer strategy

No sooner had Chelsea announced the first competitive XI of their latest new era, the club were plunged into a fresh off-field drama.

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Moments after Raheem Sterling was excluded from new head coach Enzo Maresca's matchday squad for the visit of Manchester City, a statement emerged from the winger's camp saying they had expected him to feature in "some capacity" and "looking forward to clarity" from the club over his future.

The situation overshadowed an encouraging start from Maresca's side, albeit in a frustrating 2-0 defeat to the champions at Stamford Bridge.

Sterling is understood to have been told by Maresca after training on Friday that the club was targeting other players in his position - they have already signed Pedro Neto in a £45million deal from Wolves and talks are continuing with Atletico Madrid to re-sign Joao Felix - and that he could move on this summer.

There is not, however, thought to have been contact between the club and Sterling's camp for months, leaving the forward in the dark about his prospects and seeking discussions with the Blues hierarchy this week.

When Sterling returned to London in a £50m move from City two years ago, he was billed as the landmark signing to spearhead Chelsea's new dawn under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, but two years on he appears set to become another high-profile example of the owners' mismanagement.

The move has not worked for either party, with Sterling losing his place in the England squad and struggling for consistency and Chelsea failing to get value for money.

Sterling, though, still has three years to run on his Chelsea contract, worth a reported £300,000-a-week, and he is in danger of joining the ranks of exiled big-name players - Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah et al - who have been sidelined as part of the club's efforts to trim a bloated squad and balance the books.

"I want Raheem Sterling but we have 30 players, there is no space for all of them so some have to leave," Maresca said after the City game.

The 29-year-old has said he is "looking forward" to returning to the England set-up - a plausible ambition following Gareth Southgate's resignation - and he has his family are settled in west London.

He will not be easily pushed into an unfavourable move, nor want to waste a season on the sidelines, particularly at this stage of his career, so finding a buyer for him in the final two weeks of the window could be tough.

There is a risk of a mutually-damaging standoff developing unless Sterling secures a move or the club's position softens.

Sterling is thought to have been offered to other clubs, including Italian club Juventus, though he would likely need to take a pay-cut or have Chelsea subsidise part of his wages in order to secure a move overseas or to another English club, further complicating his chances of moving on.

With Sterling's camp seeking "clarity" and Maresca alluding to further talks in the coming days, both parties are hoping to avoid a messy stalemate which could see Sterling's career stall and continue to detract from the head coach's start.