When the season ends, there are always transfer rumours linking every player and their dog to another team. This year, Raheem Sterling is the subject of several transfer stories, linking him mainly with Chelsea, and the likes of Barcelona & Real Madrid. Where is he likely to end up, and why has he fallen out of favour at Man City?
There’s no doubt that Raheem Sterling has been a huge success at Man City. In 339 games, he’s netted 131 goals and managed 98 assists; quite a return on the £49 million City shelled out for him from Liverpool back in 2015.
In his 6 seasons at City, he’s always played at least 30 games a season in the league alone, and has played in most of the cup games that city have featured in. Below shows his league appearances during his time at MCFC:
- 15/16 Season: 31 games
- 16/17 Season: 33 games
- 17/18 Season: 33 games
- 18/19 Season: 34 games
- 19/20 Season: 33 games
- 20/21 Season: 31 games
- 21/22 Season: 30 games
As you can see, it’s not like he’s getting 5 games a season, and has clearly been a big player in Guardiola‘s side, however with City’s spending over the last few transfer windows, there’s extra competition for places, and it doesn’t make sense for him to become a bench player when he’s spent most of his career as one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Why are City willing to let him go?
City forked out £100m for Jack Grealish last season, and have since added Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland into their attacking arsenal. Alongside this, we’ve also seen the resurgence of Bernado Silva, who was linked with a move away last year, and Phil Foden become one of the hottest prospects in world football. Throw in Mahrez and De Bruyne, plus whoever else they decide to bring in (Gabriel Jesus is set to join Arsenal), so you can see competition for places is fiercer than ever.
Where is Raheem Sterling off to?
It’s more than likely that he’s going to go to Chelsea if anywhere – they’ve already made contact with him. A fee of around £60m has been touted, which seems a bargain for a proven Premier League player with over 100 goals and a fully fledged England international.
How he fits in at Chelsea is another thing – another team blessed with attacking talents, however they’ve let Lukaku go back to Inter Milan, and Hakim Ziyech is set to leave the club after an unsuccessful spell, so it seems Chelsea’s attack could comprise of Sterling, Werner, Havertz and Pulisic; not bad eh?
Wherever his next move is, he’s likely to be one of the first names on the teamsheet, so this will be a huge factor in his transfer decision
Raheem Sterling’s Trophy Wins
During his time at City, Sterling has picked up quite the trophy collection:
- 4 Premier League titles
- 5 league cups
- 1 FA Cup
- 2 Community shields
