Pep Guardiola wanted to keep Raheem Sterling and gave green light to new contract

There’s the slight sense that in Raheem Sterling, Chelsea are getting a cast-off that Man City didn’t really want.

Rather than getting excited about the arrival, many fans are questioning why we’re getting so excited about signing a player who Man City didn’t seem to want anymore.

But the fact is – they did want him – they just needed to sell him before his value dropped too much as the end of his current deal closed in.

Fabrizio Romano’s column on CaughtOffside today explained that Pep Guardiola wanted to keep Sterling, and had “given the green light” to offer the winger a new contract.

But when it became clear that he wanted a new challenge, City accepted they had to move on and start accepting good offers for him.

So yes, we’re getting in part because he was no longer a City starter every week, but it’s not the same as getting a totally cast-off player