Raheem Sterling leaves Manchester City to become Chelsea’s first summer signing
After seven years at Manchester City, Raheem Sterling has committed to Chelsea until the summer of 2027.
Raheem Sterling has become Chelsea’s first summer signing, the club confirmed on Wednesday. After a successful seven years at the Etihad Stadium with Manchester City, he leaves for a reported €52 million.
The England international, who had one year left on his contract, wants a leading role on the pitch, something that Thomas Tuchel can offer him at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling and Tuchel recently chatted about life at the London club and the German’s future plans, both for the team and for the player. Tuchel convinced Chelsea’s owner Todd Boehly to make him their first summer signing.
Sterling returns to London
Romelu Lukaku has returned to Milan and Sterling has returned to London, the city where he grew up, twelve years after leaving for Liverpool from Queens Park Rangers.
With 109 goals and 56 assists in 320 Premier League games, Sterling arrives at Stamford Bridge with impressive numbers, an established player in the top flight of English football.
Only Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have scored more goals than Sterling (78) in the last five years. He was a fundamental part of Manchester City’s success in recent years.
Sterling is one of only three footballers to have scored more than 100 goals under Pep Guardiola, and only Lionel Messi has a greater combination of goals and assists than the English forward, who scored 120 goals and registered 66 assists in all competitions with Pep as coach.
Aké could follow in his footsteps
Sterling’s exit was straightforward. The same thing happened with Leroy Sané two summers ago and also with Gabriel Jesus this summer. Guardiola has explained his approach to wantaway stars whenever rumours have appeared about possible departures. Whoever wants to leave City can leave. Sterling is the latest to capitalise on this philosophy. The England international will return to London, where he grew up, to wear the Chelsea shirt. Nathan Aké could be next.
The centre-back could be the next to leave Manchester to move to London, where he played intermittently between 2011 and 2017. City took him to the Etihad two years ago and now he is one of the favorites to join a defence that Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen have left this summer.