Sterling temporarily forgets Chelsea

Raheem Sterling, who is being "frozen" from the first team by Chelsea, has just surprised fans by appearing in a completely different role - a children's coach.

The 30-year-old striker organised a football coaching session for 25 pupils from Our Lady Immaculate Catholic School in Tolworth (southwest London). He was accompanied by coach Azeez from RS7 Academy - a personal project Sterling founded in August to encourage children to access football and promote equality in sport .

RS7 described the event as “a fun-filled day of football”, and thanked teachers, parents and children for their part in creating “unforgettable memories”.

This is Sterling's rare public appearance since being axed by Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. The former Manchester City star is now training separately with centre-back Axel Disasi, completely separate from the first team. He didn't even feature in the club's official photograph for the 2025/26 season.

According to British media, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) contacted Chelsea to ensure Sterling could still use the facilities and his personal coach while waiting for the January transfer window. Coach Maresca once confirmed: "They train at different times, on different pitches - and there is no way back to the first team."

Sterling joined Chelsea from Manchester City in 2022 for £47.5m, with two years remaining on a contract worth more than £300,000 a week. After an underwhelming loan spell at Arsenal – scoring just once in 28 games – he turned down Napoli, Bayern Munich and a number of London clubs to stay closer to his family.

In addition to maintaining his fitness with his own team led by expert Ben Rosenblatt (former England member), Sterling also devotes his heart to the RS7 Academy. This academy is expanding its cooperation with many schools in London to organize community training sessions.

Sterling's latest training session quickly received praise from parents after a video of him instructing and encouraging the children went viral on social media.

As Chelsea prepare for their trip to Sunderland this weekend, Sterling continues to “save himself” by keeping his spirits up – on the pitch, not at Stamford Bridge.

Source: https://znews.vn/sterling-tam-quen-chelsea-post1596638.html