Chelsea’s new talisman Raheem Sterling: Who the hell are you? (Vol. 21)

3. What does this mean for Chelsea’s forwards?

Guardiola’s willingness to trust Sterling bodes well for both the player and Thomas Tuchel. Chelsea found itself in embarrassing situations last season because the manager had to work with a lot of players he did not trust. The Blues’ club-record signing, Romelu Lukaku, is back on loan at Inter Milan after an incredibly underwhelming season where he was benched for 12 league games in a row. Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech also didn’t see as much game time as he should have, despite having a very good season. Having another player on the roster that the manager can trust with 33 out of 38 league games would help the Blues significantly.

Tuchel kept changing his attacking cast last season, as well, largely because of trust (or a lack thereof). Sterling’s addition should mean more consistency for the front line. The major difference between Chelsea’s attackers and the attack of the teams that finished above them is the amount of minutes playing together the attacking players got, which bodes well for the future.

The Blues’ forwards also often lacked someone willing to run behind the defensive line as they preferred the ball at their feet. Sterling will create an avenue for chances with his constant, intelligent runs. Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho created 15 big chances between them from central midfield, and with a player like Sterling always on the pitch to make runs, the midfielders could find themselves making more defense-splitting passes per match.

Make no mistake, Chelsea already has players that make constant, intelligent runs off the ball. Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Lukaku all offer[ed] good off the ball runs for Chelsea, but none of them have been consistent enough starters. Havertz was the only one that got something close to a consistent run out. The Blues now someone in Sterling to receive these particular passes. Sterling ranked in the 98th percentile for touches in the opposition penalty area and ranked in the 95th percentile for progressive passes received per 90 amongst forwards in Europe. He also ranked in the 99th percentile for non-penalty expected goals per 90 and ranked in the 92nd percentile for non-penalty goals per 90.

Sterling’s arrival means that several Chelsea forwards will become surplus to requirements as he’s reported to be coming in as the team’s highest earner. Therefore, he should be guaranteed a significant chunk of the available minutes in the Blues’ attack. Pulisic, Werner and Ziyech are exploring their options and Lukaku has already gone to Inter on loan. Chelsea has a problem with goal scoring and goal creation, but it has a bigger problem with chance creation. Man City and Liverpool create more and better goal scoring chances than the Blues, a gap that needs closing. Sterling helps with chance creation as the man that would be on the end of them, but he doesn’t help with actual creation of chances. Chelsea still needs to do something about shot creation.

What do you make of Sterling’s signing? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!