Chelsea’s pursuit of Raheem Sterling hasn’t made as much progress as Gabriel Jesus’ impending move to Arsenal, but Alan Hutton is tipping Manchester City to cash in on the 27-year-old this summer.
Sterling is out of contract in 2023 and isn’t close to putting pen to paper on an extension, so the Premier League champions have little choice but to let him go while he still has value. The England international could leave on a free transfer next year, so Hutton predicts City will begrudgingly sell him.
He told Football Insider: “Man City are going to have to try and cash in. Everything that I read is Pep wouldn’t stand in the way of Sterling – I think he’s been a great servant to the club. You look at what he’s done over the years, his numbers are incredible.
“I think moving forward Pep probably thinks that he can deal without those two, maybe only bringing one in cause he has got (Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva). The only downside is you’re selling two quality players to a rival. I do believe Man City are quite far ahead when it comes to Chelsea but you’re still strengthening a rival.”
Sterling made 47 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring 17 goals with nine assists, but he’s not amassed as many minutes as he’d hoped – 3088 from a possible 6120. The 27-year-old started only 60% of their Premier League games and 41% of their Champions League outings.
Although Chelsea aren’t in title contention right now, finishing 19 points off top spot, the Blues were reigning European champions at the start of the season, finished third in the Premier League and reached two cup finals, so they’re still a very ambitious club.
And if Thomas Tuchel is promising Sterling more regular playing time than Guardiola, it’s easy to see why he’d be convinced to return to London. The best City can hope for is making back as much of the £49m spent as possible. They’ll miss Sterling with his 131 goals and 94 assists in 337 games.
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Anything below £70 million for sterling is giving him away.