Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling asks for time to make decision on Chelsea switch
It’s no secret that Raheem Sterling is desperate to play more, be it at Manchester City or any other club. Chelsea have emerged as the club most interested in the England superstar, but Sterling is understood to have asked for more time in order to make a decision.
First and foremost, Chelsea need to get Romelu Lukaku’s loan exit over the line, as soon as possible. According to Sky Sports, the Blues are expected to focus elsewhere only after Lukaku’s exit is confirmed.
It seems that only after Chelsea have addressed the aforementioned issues can we expect any acceleration in terms of incoming transfer activity.
Sterling has one year remaining on his current deal at the Etihad and has visibly grown frustrated with his recently diminished role, despite having contributed 131 goals and 95 assists in 339 appearances for Man City since joining them from Liverpool in the summer of 2015.
Despite Chelsea’s strong interest, Sterling has been respectful to City despite his desire to play more. He is understood to be asking for more time in order to assess if he can fit into Pep Guardiola’s future plans after all on a regular basis.
Sterling is also likely to demand assurances from Chelsea over a prominent role, otherwise leaving a trophy-winning juggernaut like City would make absolutely no sense.
Chelsea need to settle Lukaku exit at the earliest
Chelsea would be wise to formulate a fixed frontline for the upcoming season that Tuchel can trust week in, week out. Sterling could be a part of that if he joins us, as he can be a very potent option down the left side of attack.
Once the Lukaku saga is done, Chelsea can begin to start pushing for their transfer targets. Sterling is understood to be one of the Blues’ prime targets for the summer, so the intent is likely to translate to a formal bid very soon.
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Man City’s asking price of £50m plus could be a point of contention, especially due to the fact that Sterling has only one year left on his current deal. However, it is not something a little bit of dialogue and negotiation can’t resolve.
Assuring him a prominent role shouldn’t be a problem for Chelsea either, given how slim Chelsea’s attacking options are. Once the dust settles on Lukaku, we can expect those at SW6 to focus a lot more on the transfer market.