Raheem Sterling has secured a move abroad after his failed Arsenal loan, linking up with a former Gunners captain in Rotterdam.
Raheem Sterling has signed for Feyenoord until the end of the season, where he will work under former Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, a move that connects one of the club’s most underwhelming recent loanees with one of its most divisive former figures.
Sterling’s spell at Arsenal in 2024-25 was intended to be a low-risk addition, a season-long loan from Chelsea with no fee and no option to buy, with Arsenal covering only part of his wages.
Instead it became a flat stint that offered little return. He made seven league starts and 10 substitute appearances in the Premier League, totalling 496 minutes with no goals and two assists. In 28 games in all competitions, he scored once (in the EFL Cup v Bolton) and assisted five.
By the end of the campaign, there was little appetite in north London to extend the arrangement and a big one to see him leave the club.
Back at Stamford Bridge for 2025-26, Sterling did not feature competitively and trained away from the first-team group as Chelsea sought a permanent solution.
In January 2026 his contract, which had 18 months remaining, was terminated by mutual agreement.
Now 31-year-old and a free agent, Sterling has opted for a move abroad for the first time in his career, signing with Feyenoord, who sit a distant second in the Eredivisie and are pushing for Champions League qualification.
He said: “As a free agent I’ve had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step in my career. I wanted to take my time to speak with clubs and their head coaches to better understand the role they envisioned for me and ensure I can add real value in this next chapter.
“Having spoken in great detail with CEO Dennis te Kloese and Robin, I’m confident Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team. Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me and one I’m ready to embrace.”
Van Persie’s involvement was central to the move. “After speaking in depth, I am sure that Feyenoord is a place where I can be happy,” Sterling added.
For Arsenal supporters, Van Persie remains a complicated figure. His 2012 ‘hey guys’ open letter announcing he would not extend his contract and stating that he and the club “in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward” left a lasting scar after how the club had stood by him through numerous injuries only to see him leave when he finally hit fitness and form.
When he then joined Manchester United weeks later and helped them win the league, it rubbed extra salt in an already gaping wound as he claimed to be answering the call of the ‘little boy’ inside him.