After Raheem Sterling was dropped by Chelsea for their Premier League opener against Manchester City, Alan Shearer has claimed that the club has already told the England forward he is surplus to requirements and they’re planning to bring in new players for his role. Sterling was a surprise omission from the squad that faced City on Sunday, as the Blues lost the game 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling was a part of the pre-season squad for Chelsea, and it had seemed that his position in the side was secured. However, the forward’s absence caught everyone by surprise and the player’s representatives issued a statement regarding the snub. Shearer, while talking on the The Rest is Football podcast with Gary Linekar, said that Sterling was told on Friday, August 16, that he is better off looking for another club and they will be bringing in other players.
“’I’m told, Gary, that he’s trained all pre-season and was told on Friday that he’s probably maybe best off looking elsewhere for a club, because they’re probably bringing other people in that will be in his position,” said Shearer.
Pretty frustrating
While Sterling’s career at Chelsea has been a mixed bag, Shearer feels that the forward has never been unprofessional at the club and the treatment he has received at the moment is pretty frustrating.
“As hard as that is, and it will be absolutely, because as far as I can remember, he hasn’t been unprofessional at all at Chelsea.”
“So when you’ve worked that hard, when you’re at that football club and you’ve played a part where the people agree whether he’s been good or bad or indifferent, to have been told that on a Friday, then I think that would be pretty frustrating,” said Shearer.
After the match, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said that Sterling’s absence was down to a ‘technical decision.’
“It happens many times. The manager has to make some decisions. Sometimes players don’t like it, that’s normal. Just a technical decision, no more than that. We’ll see in the next days,” said Maresca.
Sterling’s future will be a big topic of discussion as the transfer window comes to a close by August 19.
