Chelsea exile Raheem Sterling's expected next steps emerges
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Credit: Imago, Hasan Karim - Breaking Media
Oliver Walton
Wed 3 September 2025 16:28, UK
Raheem Sterling’s path to leave Chelsea soon has been laid out after he missed the chance to join another Premier League club at the end of the summer transfer window.
Sterling joined Chelsea as one of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s first marquee signings back in 2022, in a £47.5million [Sky Sports] deal from Manchester City.
His time at Stamford Bridge has largely been one of struggle and woe since, and he was sent out on loan to Arsenal last summer after Enzo Maresca admitted that Sterling would struggle to get game-time under his management.
The 82-cap England international made just seven league starts for the Gunners as they finished second in the Premier League, and with no future at the club, Sterling was left out of Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad earlier this summer.
Football Insider revealed that West Ham and Fulham were each targeting Sterling in the final few days of the transfer window, but he failed to seal an exit, and his next move has now been revealed as he seeks to continue his career elsewhere.
Credit: Imago
Former scout Mick Brown has also told Football Insider that Chelsea could be about to rip Sterling’s contract up to get him off their books, but his £300,00-a-week wages may stop that happening due to the potential money owed.
The Times (2 September) have revealed that Sterling is “unlikely” to move to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere abroad, despite other transfer windows remaining open, as he is known to prefer to stay in the United Kingdom with his young family.
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It is instead expected that he will now wait until the January window to try and seal a move away from Stamford Bridge, but the same report states that he will not be re-integrated back into Maresca’s squad and is likely to continue to train away from the first-team until the turn of the year.
Credit: Imago
Football Insider verdict
Once upon a time, Blues outcast Sterling was one of the best wingers in the Premier League and throughout world football, but he has been unable to find his best form since departing Man City for Stamford Bridge in 2022.
An overall return of 34 goals and assists in 62 starts in his time at Chelsea is still not terrible, and can be looked upon as a positive, so it comes as no surprise to learn that top-flight clubs were interested in him this summer.
AppearancesStartsGoalsAssists81621915Sterling’s Chelsea career stats
Sterling is not a four-time Premier League champion by chance, nor has he been handed 82 England caps as a token gesture, and having a player of his quality and nous would have been massively beneficial to younger players in either West Ham or Fulham‘s squads.
What he has done now, however, is effectively ruled himself out of action for four long months, during which he will lose match sharpness, and potential suitors that may not see him as a viable option.
He will still likely have teams interested in his services come January, but whether they are ones in the capital that he wants to join, or those willing to offer him suitable terms, is unclear, and he should be regretting not simply cutting his losses and pushing to leave Chelsea last week.