Raheem Sterling fears he will play no further role at Chelsea after his surprise omission from the squad against Manchester City. The forward’s status has been further diminished by the club agreeing to sign João Félix from Atlético Madrid on a six-year deal.
Sterling, who has three years left on a deal worth £325,000 a week, is urgently seeking clarity from the club over his future after Enzo Maresca took the “technical decision” to leave him out of his side’s 2-0 defeat against City on Sunday.
Chelsea’s new head coach had already given Sterling an indication of his diminished status by telling the 29-year-old winger during a conversation at the end of last week to consider his options before the transfer window shuts.
Maresca has plenty of options in wide areas and has made it clear that he wants to decrease the size of a squad containing more than 30 players.
Félix had an underwhelming loan spell at Chelsea two seasons ago but the Portugal international has been keen on a return to Stamford Bridge. Negotiations over the attacker began when Chelsea’s move for the Atlético forward Samu Omorodion collapsed last week.
Atlético have needed to sell a player to finance their €42m move for Conor Gallagher, who has a year left on his current deal. Their determination to sell Félix, who was on loan at Barcelona last season, means that Chelsea will be able to sell the England midfielder and avoid losing him on a free transfer next year. Gallagher had been in limbo but is set to complete his transfer in the next 48 hours.
Maresca will need to find space in his crowded attack for Félix. The former Benfica star is a creative talent who operates in similar areas to Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer.
Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Djordje Petrovic, Carney Chukwuemeka and David Datro Fofana are also up for sale. Napoli are pushing to sign Romelu Lukaku, and Kepa Arrizabalaga is free to leave.
It remains to be seen if Sterling receives similar treatment to other out of favour players, with Chelsea barring Broja, Gallagher and Chalobah from first-team facilities while they wait for moves.
Sterling does not expect to be involved when Chelsea, who are supportive of the selection call that dominated Maresca’s first game in charge, host Servette in the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff on Thursday.
The issue for Chelsea, who have embarked on another heavy summer of spending under the ownership of Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, will be finding a buyer for Sterling. The England international is settled in London and has already rebuffed interest from the Saudi Pro League. There has been preliminary interest from Juventus, with talk of a swap deal involving Federico Chiesa, but the finances are likely to be prohibitive for the Italian club.
Chelsea, who are confident of complying with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations, have looked to cut their wage bill and that makes Sterling vulnerable given that he is one of their highest earners. But given the widespread concerns over PSR, it will not be easy to sell the forward.
Sterling, signed for £47.5m two years ago, is not in a rush to leave Chelsea and has been caught off guard by the situation. He was involved in pre-season and was described recently by Maresca as an important player. Eyebrows were raised at Sterling appearing on Monday in a promotional image for Chelsea’s new sleeve sponsor.
Maresca’s attacking options will increase with Chelsea reaching an agreement with Atlético for Félix. That would pave the way for Gallagher, an academy product, to join the La Liga club. Chalobah, another homegrown talent, has been told he is not in Maresca’s plans but the defender has not ruled out staying at his boyhood club.
There have been no developments with Broja and it is understood that serious interest in Chilwell, who was vice-captain last season, is yet to materialise. Chukwuemeka, who missed much of last season with a knee problem, was not involved against City and is expected to depart. The midfielder, who could go on loan or on a permanent deal, is looking for the right opportunity and has been linked with Napoli and Barcelona.
Chelsea have had a long dialogue with Napoli over Lukaku and could sign the Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen from the Italian club. Talks over Osimhen have centred on a loan but it remains to be seen if Chelsea are prepared to meet his wage demands. Paris Saint-Germain are said to have cooled their interest in the former Lille striker. — Guardian
