How Sterling could help Reece James reject Real Madrid
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 13 Jul 2022 18:36 BST
- 5 min read
There is a new era at Chelsea - the Todd Boehly era. With new owners in place and alterations at boardroom level, the club have undergone a transition unlike one they've experienced in many years.
The job on Boehly's hand? It's a big one.
Roman Abramovich is gone, along with the riches and success he brought to West London, and Boehly is now the man at the head of all things Chelsea.
With a halt to all financial activity at the club during Abramovich's sanctions, Chelsea fell behind and as a result were unable to convince both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to stay.
The contractual situations of Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Cesar Azpilcueta, Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso and youngster and England U-19 captain Harvey Vale all need to be resolved soon, or they'll all fall into the same bracket as the aforementioned Rudiger and Christensen as they're current deals expire next year.
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Furthermore, Mason Mount and Reece James are both in line for improved contracts to extend their stay at Stamford Bridge and improve their wages to see their salary jump from simply academy players in the first-team to the established stars in world football they are.
Matt Law has reported that Boehly has made the first steps in beginning talks with James over a new and improved contract at the club, which will come as good news for Chelsea fans.
With Real Madrid's interest in the right-back well reported, it's clear Chelsea are determined to keep hold of their academy graduate. James, who spent one year on loan at Wigan before being integrated into the first-team fold under Frank Lampard, has never indicated he would want to leave his boyhood club, but the allure of Real Madrid is something that has been touted as an option for him.
Los Blancos will need to replace the ageing Dani Carvajal soon, and James is seen as an ideal target. However, James' dad, Nigel, told The Athletic after his son reached 100 Chelsea appearances last year: "I'm not emotional. The part where I will be emotional is the day he becomes Chelsea captain. That’s his ambition and mine as well.
"Didier Drogba was a legend and so was John Terry. But Reece has been at Chelsea since he was six. There isn’t a player who has been there that young and gone on to wear the armband. The goal is to be the man that, when you hear Chelsea, you think Reece James."
So, it doesn't seem as though James will need much convincing to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge. But, if anymore convincing was needed then signing Raheem Sterling could strangely do the trick.
Why Sterling could play a role in James' decision to stay at Chelsea
Signing one player isn't likely to change a player's mind about a club, but given James has shown all the signs he'd like to remain at Chelsea, adding a player of Sterling's quality could tip things over the edge in the Blues' favour.
First of all, the now former Manchester City star has made a name for himself as being one of world's very best goal-scoring wingers and Chelsea need that.
He's hit double digits for Premier League goals in each of the past five seasons, and he contributed 226 goals and assists in just 339 Man City appearances during his time at the club.
Sterling is simply prolific, which can't be said for Chelsea's forward options from last season. Mason Mount, traditionally a midfielder, was the club's top scorer in the Premier League with 11, with Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz both on eight.
The season prior, no Blues player was able to notch more than seven league goals and their top scorer was Jorginho. That states a lot about the issues within the Chelsea squad, and Sterling goes a long way to fixing that.
Why would this help James stay? Well, it would make Chelsea a far more productive team and give the side a better chance of major silverware.
A player with James' talent wants to be competing for the biggest trophies in world football, and while Chelsea won the 2021 Champions League, they've gone five years without a league title and became the first side to ever lose three consecutive FA Cup finals with defeat to Liverpool last season.
James can't be blamed for Chelsea's misfortunes of late after contributing 14 Premier League goals last season in just 1,865 minutes, but he will want to start collecting trophies.
Sterling's ability in front of goal could alleviate some of those troubles and elevate Chelsea to another level. Once a ruthlessly dominant side, Chelsea have lost that edge and adding a player with experience of winning fixes that.
Furthermore, Sterling's strengths would go hand-in-hand with James'. The winger made a living from scoring far-post tap-ins during the 2017/18 season and he was an expert at it. During that campaign, he netted 18 goals and 15 assists in the Premier League and was deemed one of the world's best players.
The type of goal he scored so often is rarely seen at Chelsea, but none of that responsibility falls on James. In fact, the England full-back often sees his dangerous crosses flash past the six-yard box with no forward anticipating the chance.
Sterling is prone to a spectacular miss from positions such as these, as seen for England against Italy in the Nations League last month, but he always makes a run to the far-post, and he scores so often from that movement.
Adding a player capable of playing on the same wavelength as James will no doubt aid Chelsea's desire to extend his deal and convince him to stay at his boyhood club.
Signing Sterling won't solve everything, but his arrival could convince James to stick around and not abandon ship.
