Raheem Sterling’s likeliest destination as odds revealed amid Liam Rosenior talks at Chelsea
Raheem Sterling has a chance of escaping the Chelsea “bomb squad” after Liam Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal decided against signing Sterling following his season-long loan at the Emirates Stadium, returning to the West of London, and also returning to exile under Maresca.
The 31-year-old winger has not featured for the Blues since the end of the 2023-24 campaign, but with Jamie Gittens failing to hit the ground running, there could be space for him in the squad again.
Upon switching Strasbourg for the Premier League, Rosenior was asked about the futures of Sterling and Axel Disasi, admitting that he has talks planned with the duo.
He said, “I will have conversations with them. Raheem has had an outstanding career. I have enormous respect for him. Axel is a player I have liked very, very much for a long time.”
Raheem Sterling could actually stay at Chelsea
Fulham have long been linked with Sterling, with multiple other Premier League clubs keeping tabs on the out-of-sorts winger, but he remains at Stamford Bridge with the transfer window open.
There is still half the January window left for clubs to do business, and there is still plenty of speculation around whether the former Man City and Liverpool star will move on or stay and fight for his position.
According to one major bookmaker, Fulham and Chelsea are the two likeliest outcomes, both priced at 6/4, shortly followed by West Ham and Napoli at 6/1.
Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are also outside challengers, as per the bookmaker, with a late switch to the Turkish Super League apparently on the cards at 16/1.
Could Sterling leave Stamford Bridge on a free transfer?
Sterling currently has a contract with the Blues until the summer of 2027, having originally joined the club in 2022, bringing an end to seven years with Man City.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Stefan Borson was surprised that Chelsea didn’t let Sterling go on a free transfer, paying the rest of his deal to get him off the books in the long-term.
It has certainly been an idea which has been floated around, even advised by many, but with a new manager in the dugout, it might be a relief that it wasn’t signed off on.
Todd Boehly has made several interesting deals since taking over at Stamford Bridge, but splashing close to £50million on one of Pep Guardiola‘s outcasts was probably not one of his wisest.
While it is not clear what the player’s future looks like still, it should appear a lot brighter with Rosenior now in charge.