Chelsea’s Premier League season-opening defeat against Manchester City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge was the first time since 2012 that Raheem Sterling hasn’t been involved in the opening weekend of a Premier League season.
The experienced Premier League forward was omitted from Chelsea’s matchday squad against defending champions Manchester City. The 29-year-old has been a pale shadow of himself since arriving at Chelsea in 2022.
The omission from the squad may not come as a shock, as Raheem Sterling has been linked to a move to Juventus. He has been deemed surplus to requirements. There was a report of a possible swap deal between Juventus and Chelsea for Raheem Sterling for Federico Chiesa.
Raheem Sterling’s omission was greeted by a statement from the player’s representative, who expressed shock at the decision, saying: “He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, with whom he has developed a good working relationship.
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“He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
“As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
“Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively.”
However, Premier League great Alan Shearer has revealed that, based on the information he got from Chelsea training, Raheem Sterling was told on Friday to find a new club.
Alan Shearer revealed via The Rest is Football podcast: “I’m told that he’s trained all pre-season and was told on Friday that he’s probably best off looking elsewhere for a club because they’ve brought other people in in that position.
“As hard as that is and it will be for him because as far as I can remember he hasn’t been unprofessional at all at Chelsea.
“To have been told that on Friday, that would be pretty frustrating. Mark my words, this is not going to be the first case of player unrest at Chelsea.
“Enzo Maresca is going to have to deal with problems like this all season.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester City defender and now pundit Micah Richards claims Sterling was wrong to issue a public statement.
He added: “I agree it will be frustrating but you can’t be putting statements out.
“It’s just created more chaos around the club. Chelsea are already having to deal with loads of off-field problems.
“Yes, he will be disappointed, but Raheem making it public has just made it harder for himself.
“And if he does play again for Chelsea and stay he’s just made it harder for himself because he’s going to have to play amazing now.”
