Raheem Sterling Won’t Make It Easy For Chelsea to Discard Him

Raheem Sterling Won’t Make It Easy For Chelsea to Discard Him

Chelsea Stuck With Raheem Sterling as Contract Standoff Deepens

Chelsea continue to operate in a state of constant squad reshaping, with a flurry of transfers altering the first team over recent windows.

• Jose Mourinho’s 10 Best Signings of All-time.

Raheem Sterling, once a marquee arrival who is currently earning £325,000 per week, has become the centrepiece of a three-player group isolated from first-team activities.

Signed for £50 million in 2022, Sterling arrived as a senior England international, who was expected to bring experience and attacking threat. Yet his role has steadily diminished.

He was initially pencilled in to start the 2024–25 campaign, only to be pushed out on the eve of the season and instructed to seek a new club. Within minutes of Chelsea’s opening-day defeat to Manchester City, his camp released a statement signalling their discontent.

A loan switch to London rivals Arsenal followed, but the spell proved underwhelming. Across 17 league appearances, with 10 of them from the bench, he failed to register a single league goal, though he did manage to provide two assists.

Some at the Emirates felt his style never quite meshed with Mikel Arteta’s system, leaving him short of rhythm and confidence.

Now, three games into the 2025–26 season, Sterling is back at Chelsea but more isolated than ever. Alongside Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana, he trains away from the main group in what has become known as the club’s “bomb squad,” a mechanism for managing unwanted players.

Others like Ben Chilwell and Alfie Gilchrist have found escape routes, but Sterling has chosen to stay, forcing the club to juggle his lucrative contract against their broader squad management strategy.

Raheem Sterling has played 396 Premier League matches, scoring 123 goals and providing 65 assists.

Contract Ties and Stalled Moves

With two years left on his deal, worth around £30 million in total, any move for Sterling requires careful negotiation.

Terminating the agreement outright is unthinkable, and he has shown no interest in relocating abroad despite the Turkish and Saudi markets remaining technically open.

West Ham were interested, but what would their fans have said if the club signed Sterling after allowing Mohammed Kudus to join Spurs? Would the Hammers' supporters welcome Sterling as Kudus’ replacement after the Ghanaian’s sale.

That question lingers, especially with Graham Potter already under pressure despite managing only one win from the opening three games.

A Career at a Crossroads

Sterling’s pedigree ensures he is not without admirers. His years at City, where he was a constant threat under Pep Guardiola, still carry weight.

Raheem Sterling was a key member of Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola's Cityzens.

His first months at Chelsea also hinted at influence before the revolving door of managers and tactical resets disrupted his rhythm. That history explains why the Blues cannot simply discard him, even if they would happily move on.

For Sterling, however, the question grows sharper. His finances are secure, but continued exclusion risks eroding both his sharpness and reputation. A player once central to England’s national team setup now faces the prospect of spending his peak years in limbo.

Professionalism Amidst Uncertainty

To his credit, Sterling has remained disciplined in training, even within the stripped-down surroundings of the “bomb squad.” But professionalism alone cannot carry him through the next chapter of his career.

Chelsea, meanwhile, must navigate a delicate balance, honouring a contract while managing the optics of sidelining a household name.

The coming months will define whether Sterling engineers a revival or drifts further into the margins. For now, his stance is clear - Chelsea may want to move him on, but he has no intention of making their job easy.