Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling could leave the club, despite his desire to stay at Stamford Bridge.
The former Manchester City star is thinking about leaving the Blues for more game time and to revive his England career, according to Simon Phillips.
In 29 Premier League matches this season, the English winger has scored 7 goals for the Blues and registered four assists.
But a lot of those appearances have come from the bench as he has lost his place in the starting line up under Mauricio Pochettino.
The 29-year-old could be sold by Chelsea as they look to raise funds in order to ease their financial concerns.
Chelsea lost £90 million in 2022–2023, significantly more than the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability cap. This information was disclosed in the club’s most recent financial records.
Chelsea are currently far beyond the £105 million loss cap that clubs are permitted to incur during a rolling three-year period.
Players like Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella have been linked with a move away from the Blues, and now Sterling has joined them.
Journalist Simon Phillips claims via his Substack that although Sterling wants to stay at Chelsea, he might have to leave because of more playing time and to regain his place in the England team.
“At the moment, I am told that it is his desire to stay at Chelsea, that is what is coming from his side,” wrote Phillips.
“But I’ve also heard from another source that Sterling is starting to accept that he might need to leave Chelsea if he wants to play regular football moving forward, and at this stage of his career, he wants to play because he still has a desire to get back into the England squad and has not given up on that yet.
“The source has said Sterling wants to see how it goes and is open to hearing any offers that come in for him this summer.”
Sterling used to be a regular starter for England under Gareth Southgate but the likes of Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden have all moved ahead of him.
Sterling has struggled at Chelsea
His career since leaving Pep Guardiola’s Man City has gone downhill with Chelsea consistently struggling in the Premier League.
On an individual basis, Sterling is yet to replicate the form he showed during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
A move away from Stamford Bridge might prove to be the catalyst to resurrect his career.
