Raheem Sterling will be the second player this summer to leave Manchester City to go to one of his “big six” rivals after agreeing personal terms with Chelsea.
After also selling Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal and signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, City will look different ahead this season.
Chelsea will also have a new look, with English striker Sterling following the return of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan.
So what is Sterling’s legacy to the City, why is he leaving and what will he bring alongside Thomas Tuchel?
How will he be remembered at City?
City have won 29 major trophies in their history, 12 of them while Sterling was there, including four of his eight league titles, five of his eight League Cups and an FA Cup.
He leaves with 131 goals and 74 assists in 339 games over seven seasons following his move from Liverpool.
He has also been a very important part of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, playing more matches (292) with Catalan than anyone else.
Only Lionel Messi (211) and Sergio Agüero (124) have scored more goals for Guardiola than 120 for Sterling. He is also third in assists, with 66, just behind Kevin de Bruyne (105) and Messi (80).
“He’s been an incredibly important player all these seasons, with all the goals and assists, and when he has confidence he’s a very, very important player,” Guardiola said last season.
But despite this, Sterling has never established himself as a legend in the eyes of City fans.
“Sterling has never been a public favorite, which is hard to explain, as he has now won more Premier League titles than any player other than Manchester United, apart from John Terry and Fernandinho,” he said. Simon Stone of BBC Sport.
“His form has been erratic. Sometimes he looks very effective, other times he can be quite wasteful and still misses opportunities in front of goal. However, he is still dangerous with the ball at his feet and his best days could still be in front of him.
“He could be one of those players whose move to City is seen more in retrospect than at the time.”
Why does Man City let him go?
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Sterling’s huge level of success at City raises an obvious question: why do they allow him to go looking for a potential rival to the title?
There are two major factors. One is the fact that he has no contract next summer, so this was his last chance to make money, and the other comes with the signing of Haaland.
City have often played without an orthodox striker in recent seasons with Agüero badly injured and then leaving for Barcelona.
But the £ 51 million signing of Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland, who has scored more than 150 goals at the age of 21, will surely change all that.
Only nine of Sterling’s 47 games last season played a central role, but Phil Foden, who was the 19-time nominal center-forward, will occupy a wing spot most of the time.
Sterling only started 23 Premier League games last season, and that was without Haaland at the club.
“City didn’t actively want him to leave and he would have been happy to stay,” Stone added. “But I also wanted to be an integral part of a team that competed at the highest level. Pep would never guarantee it.
“Ideally they would have been sold to a club other than the Premier League. However, if Chelsea were willing to pay more than anyone for a player who could have left for nothing in 12 months, financially, it makes sense. “.
Where will he fit at Chelsea?
Romelu Lukaku was Chelsea’s top scorer in all competitions last season with 15 goals, with Mason Mount his top scorer in the league with 112021-22Romelu Lukaku: 15172020-21Tammy Abraham / Timo Werner: 12142019-20Tammy Abraham: 18318192020183192020121212E : 1723
One thing Chelsea will receive are goals and assists, which they have lacked despite their recent success.
The last time a Chelsea player scored more goals in a season than Sterling – both in the league and in all competitions – was Diego Costa in 2016-17.
“Given his scoring ability, Sterling may look like an improvement over those already there and make up for the deficit left by Lukaku,” said BBC Sport’s Alistair Magowan.
“It also represents a statement of intent of the new owners, who are understood to have ambitious plans in the transfer market.
“Crucially, it is the first signing made by Tuchel since he was given more power under co-owner and interim sporting director Todd Boehly after the departures of technical and performance adviser Petr Cech and director Marina Granovskaia, who managed the negotiations “.
Since 2017-18, the England striker has scored 110 goals and created 51 more in all competitions for City.
Olivier Giroud (39) – now at AC Milan – and Eden Hazard (38) remain Chelsea’s top scorers in this period. Hazard left for Real Madrid three years ago. Willian, who left two years ago, is his top 31 assistant.
Sterling could come in as a new fake, a system that seems to favor Chelsea boss Tuchel. Chelsea are even more likely to play without a suitable striker after sending last season’s top scorer, Lukaku, on loan to Inter Milan.
Last season Sterling had more touches on the opposing box (8.93) every 90 minutes than any of the Chelsea strikers remaining at the club.
He also tried and completed more regattas than any of the blue front line. Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount played more passes than Sterling and, despite scoring more goals, Sterling made fewer shots than Ziyech, Timo Werner, Mount and Kai Havertz every 90 minutes.
Chelsea already have a lot of options in attack, but they need someone to create and score goals regularly.
“Sterling’s arrival will raise questions about the future of great strikers Werner, Christian Pulisic and Ziyech,” Magowan said.
“All were signings made before Tuchel was appointed in the mid – 2020-21 season.
“With Sterling, there will be more pressure on Tuchel. The coach will need the return of the goal, but the success of the signing may also depend on Werner, Pulisic or Ziyech also leaving the club, which will avoid frustrations regarding the game time and will help balance the game. books under a majority ownership of private capital “.
Can you name these players who moved between the six big clubs?
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