Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling is entering his final year in his deal with the Premier League champions.
The 27-year-old is available for a cut-price given his contract status. Chelsea is working to seduce him, considering City has signed Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland, so the competition for the attacking positions will become even more fierce. According to transfer market specialist Gianluca Di Marzio, Sterling could become available for $45 million, 30 less than what City paid to sign him in 2015.
Per The Athletic, Sterling has been gathering information on life at Chelsea and manager Thomas Tuchel. “One source at the club believes the only stumbling block to a deal being completed is the size of the fee,” the website reports.
Sterling spent seven seasons with City after playing for Liverpool between 2012 and 2015. The size of the potential Chelsea bid will depend on the two transfers the Blues are working on. Romelu Lukaku might be moving back to Inter Milan, with Ousmane Dembele negotiating a free transfer to Stamford Bridge from FC Barcelona.
How important is Sterling to City?
At City, Sterling won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup, and three League Cups. He scored 131 goals in 339 games at the club. Apart from newly arrived Haaland and Alvarez, Sterling will face competition from Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, and Riyad Mahrez for a place in next season’s starting lineup. Gabriel Jesus, another star forward at City, is negotiating a move away from the club and is being courted by Arsenal.
Barcelona was interested in Sterling last year, and the player was open to a loan deal, but the Catalan giants finally went for Ferran Torres, whom they bought from City in January.
Sterling started 23 Premier League games last season, scoring 13 times. His total in all competitions is 17 goals and nine assists. In the 2020-21 campaign, he was in the initial lineup 28 times. The Jamaican-born player believes he’s no longer untouchable, and that concerns him.
The bookies have the versatile forward at -150 to play for Chelsea next season, with a move to Real Madrid at +1000 and a transfer to Tottenham at +1200. Barcelona is regarded as a marginal favorite at +2500, just like Arsenal. Bayern is at +3300 and Atletico Madrid at +4100.