Chelsea takeover news has consumed supporters’ lives over the last dew days. The competitive season is officially over and that means the focus shifts to off the pitch endeavors. The sale of the club has dominated headlines recently with the Premier League and UK Government approving the takeover by Todd Boehly and his consortium. It’s set to become official soon, but it’s completely taken my attention away from a very special occasion that I forgot to make note of in the past few days. Ladies and gentleman, welcome—silly season is officially upon us.
For those unfamiliar with silly season, it’s really a year-round holiday that ramps up in the summer months, January and whenever traditional sporting media gets bored. It’s a period where absurd transfer rumors are pulled out of thin air and reported on to the point where the suggested moves make zero sense. Chelsea has already gotten in on the festivities this season as it has been linked with a move (for the 10,000th time, may I add) for Paris Saint-Germain winger Neymar. While the links to the Brazilian are completely baseless, there are some credible reports that state the Blues could be in for one of England’s key attacking stars.
Chelsea is being linked with Manchester City ‘outcast’ Raheem Sterling
Matt Law of The Daily Telegraph and Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian have both reported that Chelsea is monitoring the situation regarding Raheem Sterling and his contract at Manchester City. The 27-year-old has just one year remaining on his contract as of this summer. Pep Guardiola is currently strengthening the squad on all fronts, so Sterling has seen his minutes begin to dwindle. After all, he’s not matched his record 2,777 minutes (34 games) in the Premier League since the 2018/19 season. Sterling played his fewest minutes in a domestic campaign this year since before Guardiola became the manager at the Etihad.
The Citizens forked over £100 million to sign Jack Grealish last summer and although the former Aston Villa star was disappointing in his debut campaign, another full preseason should do him the world of good. Therefore, it’s not hard to imagine him displacing his fellow England international in the starting XI for a better part of the upcoming season. Phil Foden’s meteoric rise has also played a part in Sterling taking a back seat during some matches.
Sterling is still in the prime of his career and he’s got a proven track record of succeeding in the English top flight. Yet, he’s a polarizing figure to so many football fans. It can be said that Sterling is not the most clinical finisher in the world, and that reputation has done enough to deter Chelsea fans amidst the latest links. However, Sterling has done enough throughout his career to justify being an important part of an elite club’s attacking unit.
The former Liverpool man has found the back of the net 10 or more times in each of the last five Premier League campaigns. Furthermore, over that same span, he’s got a total of 122 goal contributions (78 goals, 44 assists). The five-year stretch that Sterling is on right now would see him top almost every Chelsea team in total contributions over the last half-decade. He would bring more to the side than Christian Pulisic (six goals, two assists), Timo Werner (four goals, one assist) and Hakim Ziyech (four goals, three assists). In fact, Sterling’s 13 goals and six assists this season fall just one goal shy of equalling all three of the aforementioned wingers’ outputs combined.
The Blues need attacking reinforcements this summer, but not more than they need help in the defense and midfield. Boehly has committed £200 million to Tuchel’s war-chest for the upcoming transfer window and it’s safe to say a lot of that will be used in places other than the attack. Sterling represents an efficient and experienced option at a discounted rate seeing as he’s got just 12 months left on his current contract with Man City.
Do you think Sterling would be a good fit in the Blues’ system? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!