Raheem Sterling’s London destinations ranked as West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace circle
Raheem Sterling is set for a Chelsea exit this summer and London’s clubs are on high alert.
Following a Man City career that saw him finish with 131 goals in 339 appearances and a bulging trophy cabinet to go with it, Sterling made the move to London to join Chelsea.
The England international’s career has since been on a downward trajectory, and it hit its nadir during a dismal loan spell at Arsenal last term.
The former Liverpool man played 28 times for the Gunners, scoring just once and the bulk of Sterling’s impact came from the guidance he was able to offer young stars Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri.
The winger returned to Chelsea this summer, a year after his fallout with Enzo Maresca, and will look to depart the West London club once again.
Mail Online reports that Sterling is training separately from Chelsea’s main squad at Cobham, and West Ham, Fulham, and Crystal Palace are monitoring the winger, who has a preference to remain in London, but a move may not happen until late in the window.
With that in mind, here are those three teams ranked, based on the best fit for both club and winger.
Crystal Palace – 3rd
Palace find themselves stuck in a weird spot. They are focused on fighting UEFA in court in a bid to reclaim their spot in the Europa League, which honestly seems to be fruitless task at this point.
The South London club have signed Borna Sosa and Walter Benitez this summer, two back-ups, and the Eagles are hardly inspiring confidence at the moment that another miracle cup run, or a strong league performance, is in the offing.
Their system also leaves little room for the 30-year-old, given that Oliver Glasner does not employ classical wingers, instead opting for two numbers 10s.
That could work as Sterling has the technical ability to thrive centrally, except for the fact that Eberechi Eze occupies the spot in which the Chelsea man would be playing, once again relegating the winger to a backup role.
West Ham – 2nd
The Hammers are a slightly more intriguing prospect, given that Graham Potter took charge at Stamford Bridge soon after Sterling joined and made the England international a key figure in his Chelsea side.
However, much like Palace, there are some major concerns about the direction the club is heading in.
Potter employed a three-back system without wingers for most of his half-season in charge in East London and will likely build around Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, after the Brazilian was exonerated from his spot-fixing charges by the FA.
Sterling could offer an intriguing option as a replacement for Mohammed Kudus, but in a winger-less system, it is far more likely that Paqueta sits behind a duo of Dani Dyer’s husband and West Ham’s new man Callum Wilson.
Fulham – 1st
Fulham currently seem to be in pole position to sign Sterling, and for good reason.
Marco Silva is a guru when it comes to getting the best out of players who seem over the hill, just ask Raul Jimenez or Adama Traore.
However, the best example was a former Chelsea and Arsenal winger whose best days appeared to be behind him: Willian.
The Brazilian had lost a step and was coming off the back of a failed return to Brazil, but he soon found his feet at Craven Cottage and became a crucial playmaker from the left.
A move down the road would allow Sterling to remain in West London playing under a manager with a track record of getting the best out of an ageing star.
The ex-England and Man City star may never have hit the heights Willian managed at Chelsea, but after a similarly underwhelming time with Arsenal he could do far worse than emulating him at Fulham currently.