Former Chelsea star William Gallas believes Raheem Sterling only has himself to blame for the situation he’s in with the Blues.
Sterling arrived at Chelsea in a deal worth £50m from Manchester City in 2022, but despite showing some glimpses of his quality he hasn’t lived up to expectations.
After two underwhelming seasons it was an eventful summer for the England international with Chelsea making it clear he wasn’t part of the plans going forward despite featuring prominently in pre-season.
Given the decision was taken late in the window there wasn’t much time for Chelsea and Sterling to find a solution before the end of the window.
With the clock ticking down on deadline day it appeared Sterling would face the prospect of playing no football until January, but luckily a late loan move to Arsenal materialised.
The switch to the Emirates gives Sterling the opportunity to show what he can do in a team challenging for the title and he will once again link up with Mikel Arteta who he worked with at City.
Chelsea have come under criticism for the deal, with Arsenal not paying a loan fee and only covering part of the winger’s wages, but Gallas believes Sterling only has himself to blame.
“Sometimes players need to blame themselves when things don’t work out at their club,” he told Gambling Zone.
“Raheem Sterling was in the situation that he was at Chelsea because he didn’t perform for two years.
“He didn’t score or create enough goals and the new manager would’ve watched him and made the decision that he doesn’t want him in his squad, that’s not the manager’s fault.”
Sterling scored 19 goals in his two seasons at Stamford Bridge and provided 12 assists, but given the quality he had displayed at City and throughout his career it goes down as a disappointment.
Chelsea will be hoping Sterling performs well enough to play himself into the shop window so they can sell him permanently next summer.
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