Chelsea 'erases' Sterling from squad

Chelsea 'erased' Raheem Sterling from the squad.

The crisis between Chelsea and Raheem Sterling reached its peak when the English player did not appear in the official team photo for the 2025/26 season. This was seen as a move to completely "freeze" Sterling's future at Stamford Bridge.

Three years ago, Chelsea spent more than 56 million euros to recruit Sterling from Manchester City, expecting him to become the leader of the attack. However, what the 30-year-old star left behind was only disappointment.

Last season, Sterling was loaned to Arsenal but was hardly used by Mikel Arteta. Returning to Chelsea this summer, the former Man City star continued to be left out of coach Enzo Maresca's plans.

Not only was Sterling not registered to play in the Premier League or Champions League, he was also spotted training separately, a sign that he was completely separate from the rest of the team. Even the Football Association (PFA) began to take notice of the star's situation.

Sterling has no future at Chelsea.

Coach Enzo Maresca was blunt: “I made it clear that Sterling will not have a chance here. He is a good player, but I prefer other types of wingers.” That cold view shows that second chances are almost non-existent.

The biggest problem is the contract: Sterling is still tied to 2027 and receives a salary of 325,000 pounds/week - the highest in the club. This is the "bottleneck" that makes it difficult for Chelsea to find a partner willing to take on this huge salary, in the context of his clearly declining performance.

From a pillar of expectation, Sterling has now become a financial burden and a symbol of failure in Chelsea's transfer policy. His future in London is almost closed, only waiting to see who will be willing to release both sides.

Source: https://znews.vn/chelsea-xoa-so-sterling-khoi-doi-hinh-post1588073.html