As a member of Chelsea’s banished “Bomb Squad,” Raheem Sterling began transfer deadline day staring into oblivion. However, he ended it back in the hunt for significant prizes at Arsenal.
The most notable transfer to occur before the window closed was probably Gunners manager Mikel Arteta’s surprise loan move for the former England forward, which signified a quick and drastic turn around for Sterling.
Before Arsenal intervened, the 29-year-old could have been forced to train away from the first team and endure months as an expensive outsider at Stamford Bridge as the most prominent casualty of Chelsea’s haphazard transfer policy under owner Todd Boehly’s Clearlake group.
However, Arteta, who collaborated with Sterling at Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, has saved him from a career in cold storage.
The striker has an unexpected opportunity to turn around his career, as Arteta’s faith in Sterling to provide an additional dimension to Arsenal’s attack has seen the forward go from being the first poster boy of Boehly’s Chelsea regime to being told he had no place in new manager Enzo Maresca’s plans and warned he would “not get any minutes” if he stayed.
Sterling had a terrible fall from grace at Chelsea. He was benched for the season’s first match against Manchester City, despite Maresca having called him “one of our important players” during the preseason. His team then released a statement demanding “clarity” regarding his position.
Along with the additional humiliation of having his number seven shirt taken away from him when Pedro Neto arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It is evident from the deadline-day loan signing of Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho to complement Neto’s arrival that Maresca enjoys wingers; however, he stated that Sterling was “not the type of winger I like” and that “that says nothing about Raheem.”
The idea that Sterling is training with the club’s youth while on the five-year contract worth an estimated £300,000 per week, which he signed when arriving from Manchester City in a £50 million deal in July 2022, is a prime example of Chelsea’s dysfunctional transfer policy. The club’s transfer policy has been the subject of much discussion and criticism.
There was some sympathy for Sterling’s treatment, even in a world where players are becoming commodities and where he himself wasn’t slow to push for a move from Liverpool when Manchester City called in 2015.
But Sterling now has the best chance and outcome thanks to Arsenal’s late intervention. With the added draw of Champions League football, he is able to remain in his home city of London and joins a team looking to close the gap with Manchester City and win the Premier League this season.
Sterling has always been admired by Arteta, who recently stated, “We developed a really strong relationship together at Manchester City. That was when he was truly amazing. I feel a lot of strong emotions for him.”
When deadline day arrived, Sterling must have believed that the chance was out of reach because there were few options and rumors of interest from Manchester United and Paris St-Germain that did not materialize.
With 19 goals in 81 appearances—including 10 in 43 games the previous season as Chelsea finished sixth and made it back to Europe—and his impressive record at Chelsea, Sterling is by no means a failure. However, Mauricio Pochettino has managed to turn Sterling into a success.
It made Sterling’s marginalization all the more brutal, particularly after Maresca emphasized his role ahead of the season. However, it was indicative of the fact that his career has not taken off for both club and country.
Sterling was not discussed when acting England manager Lee Carsley announced his team earlier this week for the Uefa Nations League matches against Finland and the Republic of Ireland. He hasn’t been in a while.
After playing just 11 minutes as a substitute in England’s World Cup quarterfinal loss to France in December 2022, he was dropped by manager Gareth Southgate.
After starting England’s opening two matches in Qatar and scoring in the team’s 6-2 victory over Iran, he was benched for the match against Wales and had to return home to handle a domestic emergency following a break-in.
He scored 20 goals in 82 international matches before fading from the picture and skipping the Euro 2024 qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta due to a “mutual decision” to focus on getting back to full fitness following discussions with Southgate.
After winning five League Cups, the FA Cup, and four Premier League titles at Manchester City, he moved to Stamford Bridge with the intention of revitalizing his career. However, things haven’t gone as planned.
When Sterling failed to convert a penalty kick and misdirected a free kick in the 4-2 victory over Leicester City—then led by Maresca—in the FA Cup quarterfinals in March, Chelsea supporters even jeered him at Stamford Bridge.
After returning to Chelsea two weeks ahead of schedule to get in shape for the upcoming season and participating in all five preseason games in America, he had been hoping for a fresh start under Maresca.
“The manager can get the best out of me, out of the team,” declared an upbeat Sterling. He has entered and established his dominance in the manner that he wishes to play. There are definitely good times ahead, especially with the Premier League soon to arrive.”
He’ll be hoping for those enjoyable moments at Emirates Stadium. In a fiercely competitive area with Gabriel Martinelli on the left and a talent as erratic as Leandro Trossard only on the bench before coming on to score in the 2-0 victory at Aston Villa last Saturday, he will be reunited with former England colleague Bukayo Saka there.
While Sterling’s career record is a respectable 173 goals in 549 games, he cannot be considered a consistent goal scorer. However, given the circumstances surrounding his very public rejection by Maresca and Chelsea, Arsenal will be getting a player who will be highly motivated. Arteta has been looking for an additional goal threat.
This shocking transfer might still prove to be a genius if Arteta can light Sterling’s flame again and get him back to his peak.
