3 hours ago
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Was club's highest earner
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English winger Raheem Sterling has officially left Chelsea this Wednesday after a mutual agreement was reached to terminate his contract. The 31-year-old had been left out of Chelsea’s senior squad all season, placed in the 'bomb squad' training away from the first team. His last competitive game for the club was all the way back in May 2024, and he spent last season on loan at London rivals Arsenal, where he failed to have much of an impact.
Sterling had 18 months left on his contract and was reportedly the club’s highest-paid player, thought to be on more than €340,000 a week. Chelsea believe allowing Sterling to depart in this manner will see the club make meaningful savings. A Chelsea statement confirmed the news on Wednesday: “Raheem Sterling has today departed Chelsea Football Club by mutual agreement, bringing to an end three-and-a-half seasons as our player, having signed in the summer of 2022 when he was transferred from Manchester City. We thank Raheem for the contribution he made while a Chelsea player and wish him well for the next stage in his career.”
Why it didn't work out for Sterling at Chelsea
The former England international cost Chelsea as much as €56.2 million when he arrived from Manchester City in 2022, but after scoring nine goals in his first season in West London, he was frozen out by Enzo Maresca, after the Italian succeeded Mauricio Pochettino as head coach in summer of 2024. With the Sky Blues, Sterling won four Premier League titles, four League Cups and an FA Cup, and became an integral part of the England team.
However, his career nosedived in the capital. His market value reached €160m in 2019 and still stood at €70m when Chelsea bought him. Nevertheless, today that figure stands at just €5m. It is expected that a player's value falls as he gets older, but not by this magnitude. At 31, Sterling still has a lot to offer and the fact he rejected interest from clubs like Bayern Munich over a loan last summer shows his talent is still rated at the highest level. The only English player to accumulate higher collective transfer fees across their career than Sterling's €120.6m is Jude Bellingham (€157.2m).
