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since Sergio AgueroAt their peak, two players scored 30 goals in a season. Manchester CityClearlake Capital’s decision to raid the Etihad Stadium in 2022 appeared to have paid off handsomely when a player, who has moved between Chelsea and Manchester City, burst forward and doubled the advantage with a long-range shot. Todd Boley Stand up: not to celebrate, but to leave. Some people find it hard to believe that the second goal scorer was clearly The unproductive Mateo KovacicInevitably, Haaland made his breakthrough. Meanwhile, players previously named in City’s 30-man club were nowhere to be seen.
now Raheem Sterling Find yourself in another group: Chelsea’s non-people. They are the exiles, the unwelcome, the outcasts. Romelu Lukaku is the club’s record signing, Kepa Arrizabalaga is the most expensive goalkeeper in history, Ben Chilwell is the vice-captain and Conor Gallagher is the most popular player on the ground. Sterling is the flagship signing at the beginning of a new era. He has not even proven himself to be the best winger Chelsea have signed from Manchester City in the past two years – that title belongs, of course, to Cole Palmer – but he was Footballer of the Year in 2019. Five years later, when he should still be in his prime, he doesn’t feature in Chelsea’s top 20. That’s still a slight if they have plenty of options.
It is also shocking that Sterling’s responseMany players once seen as England’s future stars were snubbed on the opening weekend and are now unable to even get a place on their club’s bench: Jadon Sancho and Joe Gomez suffered a similar fate. Unlike Gallagher, Sterling at least made the Chelsea squad on the matchday programme.
Yet the team sheet suggests he is, at best, Chelsea’s sixth-choice winger. Admittedly, this reflects the peculiar dynamics of team-building at Stamford Bridge. £1.2bn was poured into this most bizarre of projects, yet there was still a vacancy that would have suited anyone like their Haaland, a powerful, out-and-out centre-forward. Instead, they brought in a slew of wingers. Pep Guardiola once said he wanted a team of 11 midfielders. Chelsea could almost field one of those 11 wingers – if Joao Felix was bought, of course – although there is now a proviso that none of them will be Sterling.
Although he was surprised to be overlooked, Chelsea last week Pedro Neto for £54 millionNeto’s Chelsea debut as a substitute on the left was far from the most illogical thing to happen in the last few years, when Wolves were at their best down the right. Christopher Nkunku started in place of Sterling and showed a similar ability to trap the ball offside and run behind the defence, but his tendency to cut inside delayed his shots; he lacked the clinical quality displayed by Sterling at his best but only showed it in fits and starts before Guardiola improved him.
Meanwhile, on the right wing is Palmer, who contributed 25 goals and 15 assists in his first season at Chelsea: in short, this is the role that Sterling should play, and he has already scored 19 goals in two seasons. However, there is a question whether Maresca’s tactics suit Cole Palmer as well as Mauricio Pochettino’s. The Italian’s wingers are arranged to spend more time hugging the touchline; this hardly suits the strengths of Palmer or Nkunku. It feels like Chelsea haven’t really figured out whether Nkunku is a left winger, a number 10 or a backup center forward.
Even without Sterling, Maresca’s lineup selection was superficially consistent with the team’s style. They signed 11 players this summer, but all 11 starters played at Stamford Bridge last season, although Nkunku only started two games and Romeo Lavia played only 32 minutes. But the six substitutes were all new players, which may better reflect the spirit of the team. Four substitutes made their debuts.
It was the annual impatience. Sterling had gone mad. As he had discovered, constant revolution took its toll.
Not necessarily a departure though. Chelsea may think Sterling is a folly on Thomas Tuchel’s part and his representatives did little to act as peacemaker in a statement seeking “clarification” on his position, but it contained a pertinent point. He has three years left on his lucrative contract. Chelsea find it easy to buy players and harder to sell them. Chelsea need Boly to take over another club to buy all their deadbeats. And – as no one has ever sung at Stamford Bridge – there is only one Todd Boly.
Looking back a few years ago, City fans unanimously agreed that Sterling was a top player in the league. But now he is not. His subsequent decline was very sudden. Manchester City restructured the lineup around Haaland and won the treble without Haaland. Signing Sterling was a bad deal for Chelsea, but it was even worse for him.
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