Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara was on TalkSport this morning talking about the pickle Chelsea are in with Raheem Sterling.
The winger is on big money but seems to have fallen to third in the pecking order for Mauricio Pochettino, behind Mykhailo Mudryk and the newly available Christopher Nkunku on the left wing.
Chelsea would love to sell the England winger, but his wages make that almost impossible. O’Hara ranted at the fans blaming Sterling for this:
“The problem is good luck getting rid of Raheem Sterling, who’s on £300,000-a-week. Who is going to pay him that? No chance.
“Chelsea gave him the contract, honour the contract. If you don’t fancy him no more, that’s your problem for signing him on a long-term deal. I hate it when people say he’s just going to sit on the bench and take the money. You gave him the contract. What do you want him to do, walk away from millions of pounds?
“He’s trying to do his best. He walks on the pitch and gives his best. Is it good enough for Chelsea? Maybe not, but you’ve paid him that.”
An expensive mistake to learn from
We hate to admit that he’s right – but he is. Chelsea have put themselves in a massive hole with this deal, one of the first sanctioned by the new ownership and one which appeared to be organised by Todd Boehly himself during his short lived and ill fated spell as self appointed sporting director.
But it’s not a total disaster. Yes we’re paying through the nose for him, but it’s not like Sterling is totally useless. Even if he ends up continuing to play his current role as an impact sub and rotation option, at least he’s not playing in the reserves like Malang Sarr, or hasn’t made himself an outcast from the squad like Romelu Lukaku.
He’s got 9 goals and 8 assists this season, and can certainly continue to contribute to the squad for years to come. And as time passes and he gets closer to the end of his deal, a sale becomes more realistic.
Let’s just hope it’s a mistake that this ownership learns from. Sometimes the painful lessons are those you learn fastest from, and they will be feeling that weekly £325,000 sting very deeply, we’re sure.