Raheem Sterling lifts lid on Chelsea troubles

Stuart Telford

• 30 Apr 2023 10:42 BST
• 3 min read

Raheem Sterling has struggled for form since swapping Manchester City for Chelsea last summer, and now he has a reflected on a 'dream come true' that 'hasn't transpired'.

Chelsea paid City £47.5 million for Sterling last July - a fee that looked like a relative snip for an England winger valued at €90.1m (£79.8m) by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, one who had helped his side to four Premier League titles in five years.

Bu Sterling has only managed seven goals across 33 games in all competitions, playing in four different positions under three different managers, and some reports suggest he could be on the move again at the end of the season.

READ: Chelsea set to sell £50m star just ONE YEAR after buying him

Sterling has been part of a €600m spend on players since Todd Boehly succeeded Roman Abramovich in ownership of the club last May, but the Blues find themselves 12th in the Premier League - something Sterling find difficult to explain.

What did Sterling say?

"There are times when we finish a game you just sit in the changing room looking into space because you can't understand what has just happened," he told the Sun.

Sterling will likely play under a fourth manager inside a year - after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard - with the Blues set to appoint former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the current campaign.

READ: Which 'senior Chelsea player' did Boehly single out in rant?

"We need to look in the right direction and look to whoever comes in as the next manager to build for the future," he added.

Sterling was widely suspected to have been the player Boehly singled out for criticism in the dressing room after Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Potter's former side Brighton two weeks ago. Sterling remains focused in any case.

"I haven't complained about not playing in my position," he said. " have come here with the intention of trying to do my part as best I can.

"Initially coming here was a dream come true. That hasn't transpired but again it's still an energy, something inside me is still raring to go, knowing that there will be a turn for the better."

Sterling was linked with Real Madrid before he moved to Chelsea, and Manchester United before he joined City from Liverpool in 2015.