Raheem Sterling is close to joining Chelsea in a £45 million move after the deal reached an advance stage on Wednesday. The deal is almost through as Sterling has agreed on personal terms with the Blues.
A frazzled Chelsea have been in the market, with the west London club struggling to get players to agree to come to Stamford Bridge. Rather than players signing for the club, the Blues have lost players for nothing. Lukaku is off on loan to Inter Milan, Rudiger joined Real Madrid for free, while Andreas Christensen joined Barcelona on a free transfer.
Todd Boehly seems to be in charge of transfers for Chelsea, but the new owner might be treading on new territory. The American owner is keen to bring top players to the club to help Thomas Tuchel pilot the team to a successful season.
With talks of Cristiano Ronaldo coming to west London still in the air, the Blues are close to a massive coup. There have been discussions of Chelsea signing England forward Raheem Sterling from Manchester City. The Sky Blues are ready to sell to their rivals, and the deal is close to fruition.
Sterling is on the verge of signing for Chelsea
There has been speculation over the future of Raheem Sterling. There were debates over his place in the Manchester City squad. Towards the end of last season, he enjoyed limited contributions to the side, indicating Man City were ready to sell the player. A deal for Raheem Sterling is close to being signed.
Chelsea are among the only clubs yet to make a signing this summer, but it has not been from lack of trying. They had negotiations with Leeds for Raphinha, and there were rumours of Cristiano Ronaldo joining the club. Despite the frustrations in the market, Chelsea is close to signing Sterling after he agreed on personal terms with the Blues.
Manchester City have demanded £45 million for Sterling. The deal is not yet complete, but Chelsea expects to finalize everything soon. The Stamford Bridge side is desperately looking to bolster their squad before pre-season begins.
Leaving City, chasing dreams
It has been an enjoyable experience for Sterling at Manchester City, and the England international would leave the club on good terms. The talks to join Chelsea have been amicable, with the details sorted out soon.
Sterling wants to play week in, week out, a luxury not afforded him at Manchester City. The forward is also ambitious and has dreams of winning the Champions League and perhaps competing for the Ballon d’Or. With a trophy-laden career at City, the Champions League has eluded him.
With one year left on his contract, Manchester City were not ready to risk losing him for free and was eager to listen to offers for the winger.
Other clubs showed interest in Sterling, but Chelsea beat them to the punch. While Barcelona could not sign Sterling due to financial restrictions, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain hinged their hopes of signing the Englishman on selling some of their players. Liverpool were also interested in bringing him back to the club.
Money was not the motivation for Sterling but rather a desire for more playing time. Pep Guardiola made it clear that he could not guarantee Sterling a regular starting shirt.
Sterling held positive talks with Thomas Tuchel and is grateful for their interest in him. He hopes to get more playing time as he tries to remain in the eye of the national team manager Gareth Southgate ahead of the World Cup.