Raheem Sterling wants to leave Chelsea on a permanent transfer after being told he no longer has a future at the club. The English striker also expressed his desire to find a new destination in the Premier League.
The 29-year-old striker's future became the focus of attention after being dropped by coach Enzo Maresca from the match against Manchester City. The Blues lost 0-2 on the opening day of the Premier League and Maresca later said Sterling was eliminated for "technical" reasons.
After the unstable 2023-2024 campaign, Sterling was also not named in the England squad for EURO 2024. The former Man City player caused controversy when he allowed his representative to issue a statement expressing surprise about Chelsea's move. Maresca later confirmed that Sterling had to train away from the first team players, along with other names left out, including Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga.
"I talked to Raheem Sterling before the match against Man City. I said he would have to try very hard to get a chance to play. That's why he wasn't in our squad today." that day" - Maresca said before the match against Servette in the UEFA Conference League play-off round.
Maresca then also responded to criticism of Chelsea's transfer strategy. The Blues currently own 42 first-team players, many of whom have long-term contracts.
"I don't work with all 42 players, at this moment I work with 21 players. Today's training session was 20 players. Yesterday's session was 21 players. There are about 15-20 players left. During the US tour, we had 26-27 players.
It's true that there are 42 Chelsea players but not all of them work with me every day. So it's not like you guys look at it and think that we practice like a chaotic crowd. We have a large squad but I cannot give opportunities to all players" - the Italian strategist affirmed.
Sterling wants to leave Chelsea permanently, hoping to make a move before the summer transfer window closes on August 30. Aston Villa is one of the teams interested in the English striker when the Blues want to reduce their salary budget.
Juventus is also said to be in contact with the 29-year-old player. However, Serie A representatives wanted to include Federico Chiesa in the player exchange agreement, but Chelsea did not accept.
