Chelsea inform star player he's free to leave this summer - Reports
Chelsea have reported told Raheem Sterling that he should consider looking for a new club this summer. It comes in the wake of the English winger being left out of the squad that lost 2:0 at home to Manchester City over the weekend.
After a decent pre-season outing, Sterling was surpised to be omitted from the matchday squad by Maresca. That led the player's camp to issue a statement before kick-off. Part of the statement, as quoted by Mail Sport, read:
"Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea for the next three years. As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation. Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively”.
Meanwhile, according to Alan Shearer, via The rest is football podcast, says that the decision to exclude Sterling from the squad that faced City over the weekend was communicated to the player on Friday.
Furthermore, it has also been revealed that the decision to make Sterling surplus to requirements is due to Chelsea bringing in more players in his position this summer.
On the podcast, Shearer said:
"I’m told that he’s trained all pre-season and was told on Friday that he’s probably best off looking elsewhere for a club because they’ve brought other people in that position.
He continued:
"As hard as that is, and it will be for him because, as far as I can remember, he hasn’t been unprofessional at all at Chelsea. To have been told that on Friday, that would be pretty frustrating."
Sterling, who joined Chelsea from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 for a transfer fee in the region of £47.5 million now faces huge uncertainty surrounding his future at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager explains decision to drop Raheem Sterling against Manchester City
Enzo Maresca made a huge statement when he omitted the 29-year-old winger from the squad that took on Manchester City at Stamford Bridge over the weekend.
Maresca, who took charge this summer, is looking to trim down the number of players at his disposal. When asked about his decision to drop Sterling from their PL opener, Maresca said that it was due to a 'technical decision'.
He added that the player will be given clarity on the situation (as per The Mirror):
"I want all 30 players, but there is no space for all of them, so some have to leave. The only thing I can say it was a technical decision, and now we will see and get clarity.
"All the players if they want to be Chelsea players, we want to try and see how we can use them. Raheem, we take clarity in the next days.”
It will be interesting to see if Sterling leaves the West London giants before the current transfer window closes. The 29-year-old winger has registered 19 goals and 12 assists in 81 appearances across competitions for the Blues.