Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling is the odd man out in Enzo Maresca’s squad, completely discarded by the manager on Matchday 1 of the new Premier League season with Maresca making it publicly clear that the Premier League icon is no longer wanted.
A former 20-goal scorer from the wing at Manchester City and a 16-year-old phenom at Liverpool before that, Sterling came to Chelsea with the expectation that he would be a consistent source of goals and a steadying veteran presence in the attack.
Although Sterling exceeded 10 goal contributions for the 9th time in his career last season, Chelsea are going younger in the attack, and Sterling didn’t exactly shine with his all-around play either.
Chelsea have brought in Estevao Willian, Pedro Neto, and Joao Felix this summer, leaving even fewer spaces for the 29-year-old to compete. It’s anyone’s guess as to which team will try to sign Sterling next, but the transfer rumor mill has placed Aston Villa and even rivals Arsenal as possible destinations.
The Arsenal links likely stem from two facts. Firstly, Arsenal would like to sign an experienced goal-scoring winger who can back up either Gabriel Martinelli or Bukayo Saka.
Secondly, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta worked closely with Raheem Sterling as the assistant coach at Manchester City, witnessing first hand the very best of what the England international can offer a club.
But according to Fabrizio Romano, when Arteta was asked by reporters if he was tempted to call up Sterling to set up a possible transfer between Arsenal and Chelsea, the Spanish manager flatly said “no”.
He did, however, speak at length about his positive relationship with Sterling when they worked together at the Etihad, admitted that they had an “exceptional” time and “built a really strong relationship”.
That doesn’t exactly douse cold water on the rumors and completely kill the flames, but with Fab reporting that there are no talks between Arsenal and Chelsea over Sterling, it does make it seem as if a Sterling and Arteta reunion is, at this juncture, a long shot.
