Arsenal summer signing branded ‘Raheem Sterling 2.0’ – stay will be ‘short-lived’ | OneFootball

A player whose arrival at Arsenal took many by surprise over the summer has rather harshly been branded ‘Raheem Sterling 2.0’, and there’s even a claim the clock is already ticking on his stint in north London.

Sterling joined Arsenal from Chelsea on a season-long loan for the 2024/25 campaign. The move quickly turned out to be a pointless one, with Sterling rarely selected by Mikel Arteta and offering little when he was. Indeed, his 28 appearances comprised just 1,145 minutes, with the bulk of his outings coming off the bench.

Since Andrea Berta succeeded Edu as sporting director at Arsenal, the bulk of the moves made on his watch do look like winners.

Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze have been particularly strong successes, though there is one summer signing whose impact has been negligible.

Eyebrows were raised when Arsenal offset the exit of Thomas Partey by signing Christian Norgaard from Brentford. The Gunners paid £15m (add-ons included) for the 31-year-old.

In truth, Norgaard was a replacement for Partey in terms of profile, not in terms of status in the team. The spot in the starting eleven vacated by Partey went to Zubimendi.

But according to a piece written by FootballFanCast, Norgaard is already far down the path to being a flop signing.

What’s more, the report perhaps harshly termed Norgaard ‘Raheem Sterling 2.0’ in what was obviously a negative comment.

Explaining that claim, they stated: ‘It’s hard to see where he is going to get any game time at all.

‘The 31-year-old joined the club in July, and at the time of writing, has made just seven first-team appearances, totalling 302 minutes, of which three have been starts.

‘Worse still, he has played just 14 minutes of Premier League football this year, with 13 minutes of those coming against Burnley.

‘It’s a bizarre situation, as the 39-capped international captain of Brentford last season and ended the campaign having made 34 league appearances for them, totalling 2830 minutes.

‘Now, nobody expected the veteran midfielder to be even a semi-regular starter for the Gunners, but it seems like Arteta has no trust in him whatsoever, refusing to bring him on when Declan Rice came off against his old side.

‘There may be light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of the FA Cup for the summer signing, but even then, it feels like the manager will turn to someone else.

‘Ultimately, Nørgaard didn’t cost much, is a consummate professional, isn’t a media focus, and, in that way, isn’t really a problem for Arsenal.

‘However, it does feel like Arteta doesn’t really fancy him, and, like Sterling last season, his stint in North London will be short-lived.’

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