What Raheem Sterling will bring to Chelsea

Karan Tejwani

• Updated: 28 Jun 2022 09:03 BST
• 4 min read

Raheem Sterling is close to a move to Chelsea, with the Blues and Manchester City positive in talks, and a deal to see the England forward move to Stamford Bridge could be completed soon.

The move represents a great deal for Chelsea, who will want to start the summer off with a top signing and show the new ownership group’s intent for the summer and for the long-term future.

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It also comes at good value for the club – a fee of around £35 million is relatively low, but something that’s come as a result of the player’s reduced impact and contract situation, as his current deal at City runs out next year.

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Still, though, Sterling is a player of high quality, and considering he’s still only 27, he still has plenty to offer in a team with potential to get even better under Thomas Tuchel.

What could Sterling bring to Chelsea?

Sterling is a star name, and a big personality, something Tuchel has experience of working with, and he’s perhaps a player in need of a fresh start after a rather difficult season with the Premier League champions.

While it’s easy to talk about the Englishman’s shortcomings in front of goal, it’s worth remembering that he still has a fine record in front of goal that’s only improved under Pep Guardiola.

Under Guardiola, only two players have scored more goals than Sterling in the Spaniard’s time as a manager – the Englishman’s record of 112 is only bettered by Sergio Aguero (124) and Lionel Messi (211).

From a wider Premier League perspective, Sterling’s record over the last five years has improved too as only Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have scored more than him in the league.

For Chelsea, there’s a great improvement on their current options too: Romelu Lukaku’s time is set to end, while Sterling would be a better fit in various attacking roles than Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and even Kai Havertz.

Sterling brings great versatility to the team, having played on either wing for Manchester City, and also occasionally being deployed as the centre-forward, which could give Tuchel plenty of options in his team selection next season.

Most of all, though, if he replicates his best City form once again, he’s an incredible attacking threat – something Chelsea have lacked over the course of the last season.

Sterling is known for his smart attacking runs that create opportunities, either for himself or his team-mates, and despite popular belief, he has become slightly more consistent in front of goal over the years.

Other stats for creating chances, and taking players on are also quite high since he has played under Guardiola, and that has shown how much he has improved since he has worked with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.

When Sterling joined City, he was an emerging talent, perhaps in need of direction, and expectations were high following a big (and fairly controversial) £49 million move from Liverpool.

Things are different now: he leaves the club as a world star, a major personality, one who is a regular in the England set-up, and he joins a team with different expectations – one that want to do well in their new regime.

Chelsea slacked off towards the end of last season, falling well behind Manchester City and Liverpool in the league, and the signing of Sterling could bring them one step closer to challenging them.