The BBC is not the pillar of authority it once was, but when it comes to football they still carry more credibility than almost anyone else.
Outside their transfer rumour column, they don’t tend to report things until they’re pretty set in stone, and once you read something on their homepage, you can be pretty sure it’s likely to happen.
So after a 24 hour period where the rumours about Raheem Sterling coming to Chelsea really gathered pace, to see it reported – not even as a rumour, but as a sourced piece from Simon Stone on the BBC Sport site – is the biggest confirmation you could ask for that it’s well on the way to happening.
While some transfers have years of buildup, others happen almost instantly. This Sterling move looks like it could very much be in the latter group, with things now moving very quickly with every passing day.
