Man Utd linked with outlandish £15m raid for winger who torched £325,000-a-week Chelsea contract | OneFootball

Manchester United are interested in bringing former Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling to Old Trafford in the summer of 2026, according to a fanciful report, which TEAMtalk believes has to be treated with the utmost caution.

Sterling left Chelsea by mutual consent earlier this month and joined Feyenoord on a contract until the end of the 2025/26 campaign. The former Liverpool and Manchester City star was earning £325,000 per week at Chelsea, where he was frozen out all season.

Sources have told TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, that Feyenoord manager Robin van Persie personally convinced Sterling to make the move to the Eredivisie club.

The former Man Utd and Arsenal striker was key to the deal, and we understand that both Sterling and Feyenoord plan to reassess the situation once the season ends.

Sports Boom has now claimed that Man Utd have taken a shine to Sterling and will monitor him during his time at Feyenoord.

Aston Villa are also said to be interested in the 31-year-old, who won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup once and the EFL Cup on five occasions with Man City.

The report has claimed that Sterling is eyeing a return to the Premier League.

‘With interest from Manchester United and Aston Villa, and potential fees of £10–15million being discussed, the message is clear’, according to the report.

‘This Dutch detour isn’t a farewell. It’s an audition for a Premier League encore.’

Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Man Utd UNLIKELY to sign Raheem Sterling

It is hard to see Man Utd signing Sterling in the summer of 2026.

Sterling is 31 now and is past his prime, and Man Utd are not going bring him to Old Trafford and hope that he returns to form.

Sports Boom’s claim that Man Utd would have to pay up to £15m (€17.3m, $20.5m) does not hold water either.

Sterling will become a free agent at the end of the season, so there would be no need for Man Utd to pay a transfer fee for him.

Theoretically, Sterling could sign a long-term contract with Feyenoord, who could then sell him, but it would make no sense for the Englishman to do that, as he would have more options should he become a free agent this summer.

Man Utd did try to sign Sterling when he was at Chelsea, with BBC Sport reporting on August 27, 2024, that the Red Devils ‘held exploratory talks’ over a deal.

The move was driven by Man Utd’s then sporting director Dan Ashworth.

Then, in December 2025, former Liverpool player and talkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders tipped Man Utd to sign Sterling.

Meanwhile, a former Man Utd star has urged the Red Devils to sign an Everton ace, who, sources have told TEAMtalk, is already on the radar of the Premier League giants.