After seven seasons and four Premier League titles at Man City, the England international forward takes on a new challenge at Stamford Bridge with Thomas Tuchel’s Blues.
As first reported by the prolific Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have made their first signing of the Todd Boehly era in swooping in for Manchester City and England international forward Raheem Sterling. After experiencing a significant decrease in high-leverage playing time under Pep Guardiola, Sterling expressed a desire to leave a star-studded group of players to seek a a new challenge after seven seasons at the Etihad Stadium.
The news follows the departure of Man City forward Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal and the arrival of one of the best strikers in the world in Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. The growth of the Sky Blues’ overall talent at the winger positions in the form of Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, and Phil Foden has limited the possibility for the pacey Sterling to play as much first-team football as he desires, opening the door to a move.
Romano and others reported that transfer fee would be an initial £45 million ($53.53 million), plus an additional £10 million ($11.9 million) in add-ons.
Without a moment to waste, let’s dig into everything you need to know about the transfer of Sterling to Chelsea and how he fits in with Thomas Tuchel’s squad at Stamford Bridge.
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Raheem Sterling Transfer & Contract Details
Transfer fees first reported by Fabrizio Romano. Wage figures via The Telegraph.
Contract length: 6 years (final season is an option year)
Expected weekly wages: $357,000 (£300,000)
Expected annual wages: $18,548,000 (£15,600,000)
Free agency: 2027 or 2028
Base transfer fee: $53,530,000 (£45,000,000)
Maximum transfer fee: $65,427,000 (£55,000,000)
Estimated market value: $77,000,000 (via Transfermarkt)
Raheem Sterling Career Accolades
- 5x Carabao Cup winner (2016, ’18, ’19, ’20, ’21)
- 4x Premier League champion (2018, ’19, ’21, ’22)
- FA Cup winner (2019)
- PFA Young Player of the Year (2019)
- 2x UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season (2019, ’20)
- 2x English Super Cup winner (2019, ’20)
Greatness Under Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has managed some of the greatest strikers to lace up a pair of boots in world football. The likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Robert Lewandowski, Samuel Eto’o, and Theirry Henry all featured as attacking options under his coaching tenures at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.
Despite the laundry list of legendary names, Messi and Agüero are the only two players who have scored more goals than Sterling under the iconic Catalan manager.
Top 5 Goal-scorers Under Pep Guardiola
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 211
- Sergio Agüero (Man City): 124
- Raheem Sterling (Man City): 120
- Gabriel Jesus (Man City): 94
- Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich): 79
The Value Raheem Sterling Brings to Chelsea
The most attractive quality a Premier League team can look for on the transfer market might just be the ability simply to hang in the league and withstand its high-level physicality and defending. In Sterling, Chelsea won’t have to guess about whether the sheer quality is there — he’s got it, and it translates to winning trophies.
(Ten major ones in seven years at City, to be exact, including a famous domestic treble in 2018-19.)
He’s primarily used as a winger, but can also produce in a striker’s role. No matter which position he ends up spending most of his time servicing, Chelsea will need his goal-scoring ability. Last season, the team experimented with nearly every possible combination up front, but choosing, but despite selecting from a pool of super-talented players like Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and Mason Mount, Tuchel couldn’t capture the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry he desired.
Lukaku left for Inter Milan on loan, forcing Chelsea to make do without one of their top-three goal scorers from 2021-22. Meanwhile, in just 23 starts for City last season, Sterling produced 13 goals and five assists. Those tallies were good for second and fourth in the team, respectively.
He has pace, championship pedigree, and a knack for scoring and creating chances for others. Top teams want top results, and the acquisition of Sterling is a step in the right direction to get Chelsea back into league title contention.
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