Raheem Sterling is in a difficult situation. After being left out and left out by Chelsea during his loan spell at Arsenal, the 30-year-old will return to Stamford Bridge this summer. Sterling will have to look for a new club and a new start.
This is a significant decline for one of the most capped England players in history. Sterling has also played for four top English clubs - Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Sterling's move to the Emirates on loan last summer was seen as a reasonable deal for all parties. This is a good opportunity for the 30-year-old striker to revive his career. However, what Sterling showed for Arsenal was extremely forgettable.
Arsenal have no obligation to make Sterling's loan deal permanent, so he will return to Chelsea this summer. Sources told ESPN that Sterling is currently not interested in moving to Saudi Arabia or Major League Soccer (MLS).
The English striker feels he is still at the peak of his career and can play for a top team. Sources added that although Sterling is now expected to return to Chelsea in pre-season, it is unlikely he will be in Enzo Maresca's starting lineup for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
It is difficult to imagine Sterling's future at Stamford Bridge, although he still has 2 years left on his current contract. The Blues are completely different from the club he joined in 2021.
Sources said Todd Boehly had negotiated a deal to sign Sterling from Man City in 2021 along with personal terms. However, Clearlake Capital's policy has changed completely since then.
Sterling has been a key figure behind the scenes in helping young players deal with Chelsea's uncertainty about their consistent recruitment and sacking policies. In addition, there is a rapid increase in the number of players as the club invests more than 1 billion pounds in transfers in the next 2 years.
However, Sterling still scored 13 goals in the 2022-2023 season and 18 goals in the 2023-2024 season.
There are some people in the ring who believe Sterling has been treated unfairly at Chelsea. Especially as Sterling has always maintained his professionalism on the training ground and has never publicly criticized the coaching staff or owners, who have publicly pushed him out at the end of the 2024 summer transfer window.
However, Sterling has shown little on the pitch in the past year, so it would be a gamble for a top club to be willing to accept him at this time.
Sources say Sterling is not driven by money. Whether he is willing to accept a salary cut or not remains to be seen.
However, England's options seem limited as Sterling has played for four big teams there. There will certainly be interest from other teams in Europe for an experienced player like Sterling, although his current salary is still an obstacle.
No one can underestimate a player with as much achievement and experience as Sterling. But no one dared to say that Sterling would find his peak form again.
