Graeme Souness believes there’s no market for Raheem Sterling other than Saudi Arabia with the Blues facing a race against the clock to move the winger on.
Sterling is no longer part of the Chelsea project and his number seven shirt has been given to new signing Pedro Neto.
The 29-year-old is training away from the first team whilst Chelsea try and find a solution before the end of the transfer window.
Difficult to move Sterling on
Sterling has largely struggled at the club following his £50m move from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 and has failed to reach expectations.
There were times last season where he was even booed by the Chelsea fans, but he’s believed to be a popular member of the squad and a mentor to the younger players.
Things with Sterling have developed rapidly over the past 24 hours and after being left out of the match day squad for last weekend’s defeat against Manchester City Enzo Maresca confirmed in his press conference on Wednesday he wasn’t part of the project going forward.
It’s no secret the Blues have been open to selling Sterling in order to get his lucrative contract worth in excess of £300,000 per week off their books, but it’s unlikely anyone expected the situation to develop like this.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Wednesday that Sterling wants a permanent exit rather than a loan, but Souness is concerned there isn’t a market for the winger.
“Where is the market for Raheem Sterling? Saudi Arabia, end of,” he told talkSPORT.
“And the kind of money he would want, he’s not going to get that again in England. The kind of transfer fee Chelsea would want, I don’t think there’s going to be anyone in England.”
Sterling is believed to want to stay in England and turned down an approach from Saudi last summer and it will be fascinating to see how this one plays out.
If this was the plan all summer it would have made more sense to make this clear from the beginning of the window so there isn’t a rush to reach a solution rather than Sterling going on the pre-season tour.
