Raheem Sterling still has tread on his tires and hopefully a point to prove

Stat Scouting Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling was one of the statement signings of the early Todd Boehly/Clearlake era at Chelsea. He was coming into his age 27 season after a run with Manchester City where he fulfilled the promise that he showed with his early seasons at Liverpool.

The final two seasons in Manchester were not quite as good as he showed at his absolute best but he was still one of the best wide attacking players in the league and offered versatility to boot.

The big fee (£47.5 million) and even bigger wages £300-325k per week, were not something that data watchers would not have advised at the time, it looked like an overpay to get a player that still had good (but maybe not elite anymore) production in front of him while paying him as if he was still world class.

What would have been harder to foresee was that Chelsea would become a basket case and with an unstable environment going through three coaches in two years and swinging rapidly between two vastly different strategies for squad building.

His first season was close to the worst case outcome and well below the lofty expectations for what he was signed for. This could be said for much of the team as they stumbled to a 12th place finish. His numbers were fine, deflated some with below average finishing but far from what Chelsea would have hoped to have gotten when they signed him up.

His last season was more stable, with Mauricio Pochettino depending more heavily upon him to help solidify a very young team. His overall numbers were still off from his absolute peak performance at Manchester City but had recovered significantly to where he looked back to being at the very least a well above average wide attacker for a Premier League team.

With Pochettino exiting, a new coach, and another round of huge player trading including several new wide attackers. Sterling ultimately ended on the outside of the group replaced by the new shiny toys and a directive from the top that he was not in the plan.

This could also be potentially something that has spoiled the partnership between Todd Boehly’s and Clearlake; the rumblings suggest that Sterling was a Boehly move while the moves like Mykhailo Mudryk (who was not forced out, even after playing significantly worse) were led by a Behdad Eghbali (Clearlake lead partner).

His overall numbers in two seasons were not amazing and certainly below what you would expect given the investment made into him but it is also not so bad that you would believe that the player that was among the best in the League for an extended period just a few years ago is gone forever and he is ready for a retirement league.

If Arsenal were doing this move after his 2022-23 season I would probably not like the move nearly as much, but his 2023-24 season (which we will break down in depth below) makes me optimistic about what he can offer Arsenal.

At a high level he can play both wings and potentially through the middle in a pinch. He still had good numbers, has experience in the Premier Leage, and is familiar with Mikel Arteta.

With Arsenal only committing to a single season, while contributing less than half of his salary for the season, this is a low risk move that covers one of the last areas in the squad that looked especially risky going into a long season. Let’s take a look at what the numbers look like for Sterling and how it might translate to Arsenal.

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