Forgotten Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling could be offered an unexpected escape route from Stamford Bridge, with reports claiming that a transfer to either Bayer Leverkusen or Juventus are among his multiple options.
Sterling spent 2024–25 on loan with Arsenal but only started 13 games across all competitions and was often overlooked for teenage starlet Ethan Nwaneri in the second half of the season.
Prior to that move last summer, he had been part of Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’, the group of players identified by the club as surplus to requirements. Sterling had been a versatile Blues starter as recently as the first half of 2023–24 under Mauricio Pochettino before losing his place.
Sterling is still only 30 years of age and BBC Sport reports “interest” from a number of sides across Europe. Only one, Bayer Leverkusen, is specifically named, with the Bundesliga side said to be “keeping abreast of developments” regarding the former England international. ESPN support those claims and add that Juventus consider Sterling to be a “potential target”.
Chelsea paid £47.5 million ($64.3 million) for Sterling in 2022, after 339 appearances for Manchester City, 131 goals, and 10 major trophies. But the chances of recouping anything like that investment for a player of Sterling’s age and with only two years left on his contract is non-existent.
Leverkusen are now under the guidance of former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, following the departure of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid last month. The Dutchman is tasked with continuing to compete with German giants Bayern Munich, who reclaimed the Bundesliga title last season that Alonso had delivered in historic fashion to Leverkusen in 2023–24.
Germany has proven a happy destination for many English players in recent times, although it typically tends to be young talent at the start of their career—like Jude Bellingham, Jadon Sancho and new Chelsea signing Jamie Gittens.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Raheem Sterling Offered Two Unexpected Chelsea Escape Routes.