Raheem Sterling is set to be a main character over the closing days of the 2024 summer transfer window following his omission from Chelsea's opening 2-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City.
Coach Enzo Maresca's eyebrow-raising decision was compounded by a much-discussed statement from Sterling's representatives that was issued to the Daily Mail.
"Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next three years," it read. "He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive preseason under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
"He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and 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.
"As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem's future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation. Until then, we will continue to support Raheem's desire to start the new season positively."
The statement drew something of a mixed response and Maresca's thoughts post-match are hardly likely to have inspired confidence in Camp Sterling.
"I want Raheem Sterling but I want all the 30 players we have," the Italian said after his first official game as Mauricio Pochettino's successor. "But there is no space for all of them. So, for some of them, they have to leave."
Sterling's contract length and status as one of Chelsea's top earners might make leaving difficult. That said, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku were selected ahead of him against his former club on Sunday, when Pedro Neto and Marc Guiu came off the bench. Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk being unused subs before Joao Felix even arrives daubs a certain amount of writing on the wall.
The 29-year-old standing as the odd man out from Chelsea's compulsive transfer policy — he was omitted from the UEFA Conference League squad to face Servette on Thursday, August 22 — is the latest step in a remarkably swift decline.
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"That was one of the greatest displays I've seen from a player in an England shirt. Stunning."
Gary Lineker used to be England's all-time leading scorer, won the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup and starred alongside Paul Gascoigne in the Three Lions' run to the semifinals at Italia 90. He knows a thing or two about great displays for the national team and this is how he bracketed Sterling's bravura performance in England's 2-1 Euro 2020 semifinal win over Denmark.
In a tournament delayed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sterling was the standout player for Gareth Southgate's team. He netted the only goals in the 1-0 group-stage wins over Croatia and the Czech Republic and opened the scoring in a stirring last-16 triumph over Germany.
The opening goal by @sterling7 against Germany at #EURO2020 🤩 pic.twitter.com/zTsB4CGZ4v — England (@England) September 26, 2022
Sterling was then in irresistible form against Ukraine and Denmark before the hosts ran out of road in a Wembley final against Italy. In England's greatest team for half a century, Sterling was one of the main men, his partnership in attack with Harry Kane arguably without compare in his nation's history.
He was also an important figure off the field, having taken a public stance at the forefront of football's anti-racism movement. In summer 2021, Sterling's stock could not have been higher. However, cracks were already appearing in his career-defining spell at Manchester City.
Three months prior to Euro 2020, the winger had a furious row with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after he was dropped for a Premier League home game against Southampton that the champions-elect won 5-2. A chapter recounting the flashpoint in the latest book released by Guardiola's close confidant Marti Perarnau is entitled "Ego", which hardly suggests relations thawed afterwards.
Although he returned to play an important part in City retaining the title in 2021/22, Sterling having to come off the bench to provide a crucial final-day assist for Ilkay Gundogan against Aston Villa told a story. He was no longer one of Guardiola's untouchables, a status he enjoyed between 2017 and 2021. A new challenge was required.
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Raheem Sterling career stats, titles won since leaving Liverpool
If Sterling's £50 million ($65 million in today's exchange rate) switch from City to Chelsea came under a bit of a cloud in summer 2022, it was nothing compared to the storm that engulfed his move to Manchester. A deal worth £49m ($63.7m today) made him the most expensive English player ever in July 2015, although the then 20-year-old publicly angling for a move away from Liverpool brought sustained levels of vitriol on Merseyside and beyond.
Sterling's first two seasons at City, under Manuel Pellegrini and Guardiola respectively, were unremarkable and he had to painstakingly rebuild confidence that took a further hit during England's nightmare Euro 2016 campaign.
A winning goal deep into stoppage time at Bournemouth in August 2017 was initially notable for Sterling receiving a second booking for celebrating among the travelling City supporters, but it proved to be a moment of lift-off as he hit 18 goals in the club's 100-point season and 17 as they saw off Liverpool's formidable challenge in 2018/19. There was a Premier League best haul of 20 the following term.
"He's an incredibly important player for us. Everything we have done in the past, without him would not have been possible," Guardiola said during happier times. Sterling's 131 goals in 339 appearances put him 11th on City's all-time top scorers list.
Sterling made the Etihad and Pep Guardiola explode with that winner against Southampton. Many moments from him, but that’s up there. #ManCity #MCFC #CFC pic.twitter.com/7B4hyJWAmn
— Mike Minay (@MikeMinay) July 13, 2022
Eighteen in Liverpool colours and 14 across his two seasons at Chelsea puts Sterling in the Premier League's 100 club with 123 goals in 379 top-flight outings. It is a competition he won four times with City, along with five Carabao Cups and an FA Cup, scoring twice in a 6-0 demolition of Watford in the 2019 final that sealed an unprecedented domestic treble.
There are also 20 England goals but Sterling has not added to his 82 caps since appearing as a substitute in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to France.
What's gone wrong for Raheem Sterling at Chelsea?
When Sterling joined Chelsea and multiple reports around the deal referenced his ambitions to win the Ballon d'Or, it did not sound completely absurd. The Blues were just a year removed from winning the UEFA Champions League, coach Thomas Tuchel — who masterminded City's downfall in Porto — was still in position, and Sterling was the marquee signing of their new Clearlake era.
If only he'd known then what we know now. "It was the number-one priority and we're super excited that we could make it happen," Tuchel said of Sterling's signing, and both men spoke warmly of each other. Unfortunately, within two months, Tuchel was sacked and the Todd Boehly head coach carousel was in motion.
It is fair to point out that in the brief time before Tuchel's exit and since then, Sterling has not been near the heights he hit during his peak years at City. The concept of peak years itself is an interesting one for a player who has been a Premier League fixture since 2012, played 28,058 minutes as an explosive wide forward in the division and clocked up 631 senior appearances for club and country. Reasonably, we can ask whether the tank is somewhere close to empty.
Alongside all of his glittering achievements, howling missed chances have always been part of Sterling's story. It amounts to an ever-present fragility that is uncommon in the bracket of players he once occupied. His most prolific season at City in 2019/20 is perhaps best remembered for its last act: an inexplicable open-goal miss that meant Lyon dumped Guardiola's team out of the Champions League.
Just moments before the Lyon dagger...
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) August 15, 2020
Raheem Sterling will not soon forget this miss... pic.twitter.com/A6lRUOOxRd
Nevertheless, in each of his final five seasons in Manchester, Sterling hit double figures for Premier League goals. He is yet to do that at Chelsea. Part of that is due to the obvious factor of playing in a team that is nowhere near as good. But that patchy finishing has also taken a dive.
At his best at City, Sterling's shot conversion rate hovered slightly above 20% and has dropped to 15% in west London. According to Opta, he has scored eight and missed 19 'big chances' in Premier League games for Chelsea. His conversion rate on this metric was down to 26.67% last season (four scored, 11 missed), down from 60% during City's title-winning campaign of 2018/19.
On the other hand, who aside from Cole Palmer has unequivocally impressed since Chelsea's ongoing splurge began? Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, Mauricio Pochettino and now Maresca have passed through an increasingly packed dressing room. Getting out right now might be no bad thing for Sterling, whose unfailing tenacity and bloody-mindedness will demand a career third act. But where?
Who will sign Raheem Sterling?
In July 2022, The Mirror reported Chelsea beat off interest from Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool for Sterling. Most of the main players in the select group of clubs who can afford £300,000-per-week superstars were in play.
Sterling's stock has taken a battering over the subsequent two years and it's safe to assume he will have to resurrect his career elsewhere. In a 2019 interview with GQ, he expressed a fondness for one day playing in Spain and the following season he was photographed with a Real Madrid shirt by AS before a Champions League last-16 meeting with Manchester City.
Madrid's latest galacticos era, powered by Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, shows how much the world has turned since then, while the only elite club embroiled in a more nonsensical transfer policy than Chelsea is Barcelona. Perhaps Diego Simeone would enjoy Sterling's tireless work off the ball at Atletico Madrid, but having pushed Joao Felix in Chelsea's direction to facilitate buying Conor Gallagher, there probably isn't room on the books of a club that has already signed Julian Alvarez this summer.
PSG are also in a very different place, moving to something of a post-galactico model under Luis Enrique, where a 29-year-old forward potentially on the downslope probably doesn't hold much appeal. A return to Liverpool remains a non-starter. Bayern Munich are led by Sterling's old City captain Vincent Kompany but have already moved significantly in the market to bring in Michael Olise.
The Daily Mail reported Juventus are keen on a move for Sterling, providing they can move on Italy winger Federico Chiesa (yes, of course Barcelona are apparently interested. No, me neither). One of England's best players of the modern era rediscovering himself with an Italian giant would be a great story to tell.
This yarn could only be woven with a considerable pay cut. If Sterling wants to maintain his current earning level, the options seemingly begin with Chelsea reserves and end with Saudi Arabia, which has apparently not piqued the player's interest. It amounts to a staggering fall from grace for a man whose precision planning of his career had paid handsome dividends until about three years ago. Camp Sterling have less than two weeks to get creative.