91 goals in 225 games tempts Arsenal to join Man U in chase for Chelsea outcast | OneFootball

A new entrant has arrived in the race to sign Raheem Sterling from Chelsea.

The Blues have made it abundantly clear to the winger that he’s not in their plans. From the moment preseason ended he’s been excluded from the first team squad, and even from first team training. Rather than building bridges, manager Enzo Maresca took the change in this week’s press conference ahead of Servette to reinforce the message that Sterling, and others in his position, will get “no minutes” if they stay at Chelsea.

By all accounts the winger understands this, and is happy to go to the right option. But so far, only Manchester United have really been linked with any conviction. That changed an hour ago with the news that Arsenal are now in the race too.

Miguel Delaney writes that Chelsea would need to pay a chunk of Sterling’s wages to make it happen, but even that might be acceptable, given the alterative is have him rotting in the reserves and paying 100% of those wages.

After chasing Nico Williams for much of the summer, Arsenal are looking further down their list of options, and their manager Mikel Arteta knows Sterling well from their shared time at Man City, where the former Liverpool man scored 91 goals in 225 Premier League games.

Desperate Chelsea will take what they can get

From Chelsea’s point of view, the destination doesn’t really matter. They’re desperate to get Sterling’s £325k a week wages off their books, no matter whom they theoretically strengthen.

But other teams know the desperate position the Blues are in, now they’ve shown their hand by leaving Sterling out of the first team. As the deadline closes in, teams like Arsenal can really drive a hard bargain, knowing that Chelsea have few other options, especially as United’s interest appears to fade.