Reports coming out of England have claimed that Manchester City has offered Raheem Sterling to Chelsea as they and the player consider his time at the club to be over.
Sterling moved to the Etihad in July 2015 for £50 million which made him the most expensive English player of all time. The record has since been dwarfed by the likes of Harry Maguire and his Manchester City teammate Jack Grealish. However, it was a big deal back then because City paid a premium for a player who was worth it at the time.
He has since gone on to score many important goals and play many key roles for the club who have dominated English football for the best part of the last decade.
But in that time, he has also struggled to maintain a starting berth in the team as Pep Guardiola, manager if the club, likes to tinker and rotate his formations a lot to keep opponents guessing.
Sterling has been reported on a few occasions to be displeased with the Spaniard’s constant tinkering which sometimes sees him out of the starting line up for two or more games in a row. The club’s latest signings – Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland – now put his place in the squad at more risk.
Sterling open to leaving City
The 27-year-old is reportedly willing to leave the club for more playing time and it looks like Chelsea could be his next destination after Man City was reported to have offered him to the London club.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are other clubs interested in the winger and Spanish outlet AS reported that City have contacted them over a possible deal for Sterling.
Arsenal is also interested in the 27-year-old but Sterling is not interested in a move to the club. Madrid’s priority lies elsewhere at the moment and Barcelona are in a financial mess. Bayern Munich are interested in Liverpool forward Sadio Mane and PSG are reportedly unsure of a move for the Englishman.
This leaves room for Chelsea to swoop in for the England international, who is currently recovering from a small knock picked in the closing stages of the 2021/22 season ahead of the club’s pre-season schedule.
AS also reports that the club are willing to sell Sterling for less than his £76.5 million market value.
Sterling should stay at Etihad – former City goalkeeper David James
However, former City goalkeeper David James has warned Sterling to turn down Chelsea if he intends to competed for titles next season.
Speaking to GGRecon, James said: “The easy answer is, stay at City! First of all you’re going to have an opportunity to win trophies. He gets the game time, as I say, with the rotation, Raheem’s one of those 24, 25 league appearance players.
“You’re going to get enough regular time in a successful side. It’s going to be a little bit congested before the World Cup but within that you’re going to get enough game time, and enough rest I would argue, to be fresher for a World Cup.
James also made it a point to praise Sterling due to the links in the media to all the big clubs in Europe, saying that it is a pat on the back for the 27-year-old.
