Raheem Sterling is no longer even being treated as a Chelsea player. His jersey number has disappeared and he has even been notified of his release.
Chelsea will play Cervette FC at Stamford Bridge in London on the 23rd (Korea time) in the final playoff of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2024-2025 season.
Ahead of this match, all eyes watching Chelsea are on Raheem Sterling and Enzo Maresca. Chelsea’s new coach Maresca excluded Sterling from the list of matches in the first round of the English Premier League (EPL) of 2024-2025 against Manchester City on the 19th.
“It’s just a tactical decision. There’s nothing more to say. A coach is paid to make a decision. Sometimes players might not like the decision,” Maresca said. However, Sterling immediately released a statement after confirming that he was excluded from the list of matches and attempted to play with the media.
Sterling said, “The player returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training and had a positive pre-season under the new coach. We have developed a good cooperative relationship with Maresca,” adding, “I was surprised that Sterling trained hard and got along well with Maresca, but he was also missing the list of games against Manchester City.”
“Considering that Sterling was included in the pre-match material officially made by Chelsea this week, it was expected that Sterling would participate in the match against Manchester City. We have always had positive confidence in the future of Sterling at Chelsea, so we expect the situation to be clear,” he said, pressuring Maresca. It was a nuance as if he would declare that he would leave the team immediately if Sterling was not in Maresca’s plan. 스포츠토토
As a result, Sterling’s media play has only brought about worse outcomes for himself. Chelsea and Maresca have finally decided to put Sterling in order. Chelsea announced their final call-up list for the Europa Conference League play-off with Swiss side Servette, but Sterling’s name was omitted. It has become clearer that Maresca does not plan to use Sterling.
The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Joao Felix’s decision to join Chelsea is not good news for Sterling. Chelsea are trying to find a solution to Sterling’s and Ben Chilwell’s situation. Maresca ruled out the two players for the match against Manchester City. “They are highly paid and Chelsea are ready to sell them.”
Maresca made his position clear at a press conference ahead of the match against Servette. “I’m just trying to be honest. I told Sterling that he would have a hard time spending time with us. Chilwell is going to be difficult here as well,” he said directly, adding that Sterling was not in his plans.
“Stirling will not have time to play here, to be honest. I’m not saying Sterling is not a good player, but I prefer various styles of winger. It’s a simple matter. Sterling and Chilwell are training separately right now. The situation of the two players is clear. If they want to play time, they should leave,” he said, adding that he would prefer to leave.
Chelsea also made a fierce decision. After officially announcing the recruitment of Felix, Chelsea also announced the change of their roster. Chelsea said that Pedro Neto will change the number 19 he wore against Manchester City to No. 7 for the rest of this season.
Sterling was originally the star of the No. 7. Sterling, who was wearing No. 7, did not specify what number he was playing with. Sterling’s uniform number, which he wore until the last season, has been deleted.
Sterling and Chilwell are currently training separately from the first-team squad, and it is understood that Sterling does not even go to work at Chelsea at all.
Gary Jacob, a reporter for The Times, said: “Sterling has been away from Chelsea’s training camp since Friday after being told by Maresca that he is not included in this season’s plans. He is training at home. While he is training at home, there was a mutual agreement that he would spend time away from Chelsea’s training camp. Sterling is trying to resolve the situation.”
“Chelsea want to sell Sterling, who joined Manchester City for 50 million pounds (about 87.3 billion won) two years ago, and Sterling will also prefer a permanent transfer to a club that can provide regular playing time,” Jacob added.
Sterling has scored 123 goals in the EPL alone and is currently receiving 16.9 million pounds (29.5 billion won), the highest salary for Chelsea, but his jersey number disappeared overnight and he was excluded from the club’s plan. Sterling’s future is expected to be determined within the transfer window.
