Raheem Sterling will ‘probably’ join bottom-half Premier League club to end Chelsea woes

Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling

Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling has been tipped to leave the club for another London side competing in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Sterling is set to complete his second season with Chelsea after leaving Manchester City in 2022. However, despite his previous role in City’s success, he has struggled to stand out for the right reasons at Stamford Bridge.

Sterling scored nine goals in his debut season with Chelsea and is on the same tally in his second, ahead of the final day of the season. In contrast, he hit double figures in all seven of his seasons with City (and his last two with Liverpool before that).

Reports have indicated that Chelsea could sell Sterling this summer, despite there still being three years left on his contract. Moves to the Saudi Pro League or MLS have been touted.

However, the 29-year-old’s Premier League career might not be over. Recently, there were claims he could be used as a counterpart in Chelsea’s attempts to buy Michael Olise from Crystal Palace.

And following on from those rumours, pundit Chris Sutton has emphasised the likelihood of Sterling signing for Palace or someone similar.

While it would be an obvious drop down from the level of competition he has generally been used to in his career (Palace are currently 12th, although in fairness that is where Chelsea finished last season), it could actually reinvigorate the England international.

“He will probably end up at Crystal Palace or somewhere like that, I suspect,” Sutton said on a podcast.

“I thought his goal was excellent at the weekend [against Nottingham Forest]. We aren’t party to what goes on at the Chelsea training ground and clearly [Mauricio] Pochettino feels there has been a dip in form.

“We know what a talented player he is. But he does look like a player who needs to kick-start his career.”

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Where will Sterling get back on track?

With 122 Premier League goals behind him and four league winner’s medals in his cabinet, Sterling isn’t exactly the kind of player you’d think would have to ‘kick-start his career’, but he does need some kind of resurgence.

He hasn’t played for England since the 2022 World Cup, which would’ve seemed unimaginable at the time given his favourability under Gareth Southgate.

When Sterling was at City, he held realistic ambitions of moving to LaLiga when the time came to leave, ideally with Barcelona or Real Madrid. Those dreams currently seem like a thing of the distant past.

While obviously of a different level, though, Palace could give him a springboard. They are building an exciting new era under Oliver Glasner and have established themselves as a strong environment for developing players.

Sterling is obviously older than the type of players they have invested in to get their squad in the shape it is today, but having a skilful senior member might help any of their youngsters that stick around at Selhurst Park.

For now, this is just a rumour and one to keep an eye on rather than anything to expect to happen imminently. But there is a decent chance Sterling’s last game for Chelsea could be this weekend.

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