Aston Villa have one of the most talented attacks on paper in the Premier League after bringing in Jaden Philogene and Cameron Archer to join the likes of Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey, and Jhon Duran up front.
But Aston Villa aren’t done wheeling and dealing this summer, and even though their priority under Monchi is to build a long-term project that focuses on top young forwards like Philogene, one more veteran presence could help a front three really gel.
According to a report from Gary Jacob of The Times, Aston Villa are holding transfer talks with Chelsea in order to sign out-of-favor veteran winger Raheem Sterling, who is one of several big names the Blues probably should not have signed in the first place.
Although Sterling is riding the bench at Stamford Bridge and looks like a shell of his former self since joining Chelsea, it is easy to forget that he is one of the best attacking players in the Premier League of the last 10-15 years.
An intelligent runner off the ball and a lethal finisher from the wide right position, Sterling made a name for himself at Liverpool before becoming a legitimate superstar for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Even last season, Sterling reached double-digit goal contributions for the ninth time in his Premier League career. From 2017 to 2022, Sterling had a streak of 5 straight seasons with at least 10 goals, including 20 goals in one campaign and 19 goals with 11 assists in another…all at Manchester City.
Sterling has been playing for more than a decade but still isn’t even 30 years old, owing to the fact that he began in 2011 for Liverpool when he was just 16 years old. He was a legitimate phenom.
So while Sterling isn’t doing all that great for Chelsea right now, the versatile goal-scoring winger may just need a change of scenery to a side with better coaching and a more cohesive attacking unit. Aston Villa and Unai Emery can provide that.
Everything depends on price, of course, but Sterling could be getting the lifeline he needs from Aston Villa with no objection to a transfer from Chelsea’s end. Sterling to Villa could end up being a bigger decider in the Champions League race at the end of the season than Felix to Chelsea.
