Enzo Maresca says there’s no way back to the first team for Raheem Sterling at Chelsea, and he hasn’t even seen the former Arsenal winger since the season started.
Following the conclusion of his loan to Arsenal, Raheem Sterling didn’t end up getting a summer move away from Chelsea, but there also seems to be no way back for the player with his current club.
As it stands, Sterling is training away from the Chelsea first-team with Axel Disasi, and manager Enzo Maresca claims that isn’t about to change.
“They are Chelsea players, but at the moment they are training separately and the plan is to continue in this way,” Maresca said this week.
“Since the season started, I haven’t seen either of them. I haven’t seen Axel or Raheem. They train at a different time and on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since the start of the season.”
When asked if there is any way back for Disasi and Sterling, Maresca said: “With us? No.”
The BBC report that Sterling had interest from Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen this summer, but he was reluctant to leave London. He preferred to stay in the English capital to stay close to his family.
Arsenal had no interest in making their loan move permanent, and Chelsea failed to encourage Fulham, Crystal Palace, or West Ham United to make an offer.
Part of the problem was Sterling’s salary. The winger still has two years left on his contract as Chelsea’s highest-paid player, earning over £300,000 a week. If Chelsea never manage to overload him, they’ll have to pay him well over £30m for no footballing benefit.
Sterling made 28 appearances for Arsenal last season, but he scored just one goal and assisted five. He probably wasn’t even justifying the £100,000-a-week wages the Gunners were reportedly paying him, let alone the more than £300,000 he was bringing in from both clubs.
It was always unlikely there would be significant interest in Sterling this summer, and he’s well within his rights to opt against taking up offers to leave if they don’t suit him.
Chelsea handed him his contract and they’re now devaluing him and making it more difficult for him to get the kind of transfer he’d want. Both parties have to bear the consequences of their own decisions.