GARY NEVILLE has suggested Raheem Sterling’s statement calling for “clarity” on his Chelsea future may have been done with two team-mates in mind.
Sterling, 29, was left out of the Blues matchday squad by new boss Enzo Maresca as they lost 2-0 to Manchester City.
However, shortly before the match, Sterling’s camp released a statement slamming his omission and calling for “clarity on the situation”.
A number of senior stars have been ruthlessly axed from the playing squad this summer, including Cobham graduate duo Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah.
The pair were both banished to the club’s development squad during pre-season, with Gallagher’s axe coming ahead of a transfer to Atletico Madrid which is finally on the verge of completion.
Meanwhile, Chalobah’s exit appears to remain some way off despite being told he is surplus to requirements, and he has reportedly been BANNED from using the first-team training facilities.
But while appearing on Sky Sports on Monday, Neville claimed Sterling may be “punching back” on their behalf as well.
The Manchester United legend said: “What I would say is, for Raheem, who I think is a really good lad, I love him to bits like [Jamie] Carragher said. I’ve worked with him for a long time and he’s experienced now.
“I think if he’s looking at everything that’s happening behind the scenes there for him to do what he did yesterday, he must be seeing stuff that he doesn’t like and feels like he needs to punch back.
“He might be punching back on behalf of himself, but he may be punching back on behalf of [Conor] Gallagher. He may be punching back on behalf of [Trevoh] Chalobah, who’s with the development squad.
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“He might be thinking, ‘I’ve got to alert people to what’s going on here and the only way I can do that is through my own situation now’.
“Because it is unusual to put a statement now that I wouldn’t expect Raheem Sterling to have done that.”
Sterling, joined the west London outfit for £47million from City in 2022, making 81 appearances and scoring 19 goals with 12 assists.
Maresca said the decision to leave Sterling out was a “technical” one, but reports suggest that he is welcome to listen to offers.
Ex-Man Utd star Rio Ferdinand called the situation “wild”.
On Ferdinand Presents, he said: “I see all the young players, especially in that squad, talk about Raheem.
“It’s like Uncle Raheem. [Cole] Palmer, the likes of Reece James, it’s Uncle Raheem.
“And he’s looked after a lot of these boys, they come to him, so when you kick that guy in the changing room.
A statement released before kick-off read: “Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next three years.
“He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
“He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
“As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
“Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively.”
“All of them are going to limp at some point and they aren’t going to take it well and you create a problem in your own dressing room.
“There’s nobody delivering that message with any clarity, and from what I’m hearing Sterling has got no understanding of where his situation lies.
“He hasn’t had anyone in the hierarchy come to him and say: ‘Listen, you’re surplus to requirements, we want to get rid of you’.”
Chelsea’s next game is a Europa Conference League qualifier against Swiss side Servette this Thursday, while their next league game sees them pay a visit to Wolves on Sunday.
CHELSEA began life under new boss Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 home defeat to champions Manchester City.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the Chelsea lot as the season didn’t begin how they wanted.
Robert Sanchez – 4/10
Distribution-wise, it’s not good enough; that said, he made an absolutely fantastic save to deny a deflected effort from Jeremy Doku in the first half.
Similarly in the second half, made a routine save to deny Erling Haaland before getting a hand to Mateo Kovacic’s shot, but failed to stop it rattling the back of the net.
Malo Gusto – 5
It’s more of the impressive attitude we saw last season from the flying Frenchman, but today, he couldn’t stamp his mark on the game at all going forward.
We certainly see more of his best qualities in the game where Chelsea have more of the ball, he should grow into the season nicely over the next few games.
Wesley Fofana – 5
He didn’t look out of his depth in his first Premier League game for Chelsea for over a year, and despite conceding, it was a decent performance to build on in the coming games.
Did well physically against Haaland in fairness, and made it through the 90 minutes unscathed which will please Chelsea fans in some capacity.
Levi Colwill – 5
Tough day at the office against physicality personified in Erling Haaland.
Did play the ball well out from the back for Chelsea with a few good blocks and tackles. But much the same as with Wesley Fofana, there is room for growth into the season with easier fixtures upcoming, particularly where Chelsea will dominate on the ball.
Marc Cucurella – 6
Forced Jeremy Doku into a change of wing in the first half after winning a tough battle against the Belgian winger, and stepped into challenges well for the most part.
Was solid again in the second half before going off with an injury.
Romeo Lavia – 6
He looked like a calming presence in the Chelsea midfield when he did get the ball and he broke up play pretty well for a player who has been out through injury for so long.
Continued his good pre-season form and is deserving of a run in the side.
Moises Caicedo – 5
A similar performance really to the aforementioned Lavia, but was one of Chelsea’s better progressors of the ball when they did get forwards and showed some nice touches in the middle of the park.
Fans will be left wondering whether he, Lavia and Enzo Fernandez fit into the same midfield.
Enzo Fernandez – 5
A mixed performance from the Argentine midfielder who showed promise in spells, but it really wasn’t the level you would expect of a player with his price tag.
This could have been a huge game for the Chelsea captain for the day, but he failed to really stamp his mark on it in comparison to the player whom he replaced, Mateo Kovacic.
Christopher Nkunku – 4
Enzo Maresca seemed to want him playing as a touchline winger, but the forward looks far more comfortable in the middle of the pitch.
He was the first player to be hooked in the second half and was replaced by Pedro Neto, who looked more at home wide on the left-hand side.
Cole Palmer – 5
It was far from the electric performance which saw him scoop heaps of praise last season.
He still did show glimpses going forward, but he just failed to impact the game in the ways he did last time around.
Nicolas Jackson – 4
New season, same old Nicolas Jackson.
A great run in the first half was let down by a pea-roller of a shot into a Man City defender, before he hit the back of the net only to see the official’s flag raised on the far side.
I’m sorry Nic Jackson, but it’s a four for you this time round…
SUBS:
Pedro Neto (Nkunku, 58) – 5
Not the kind of debut that got fans out of their seats, but with The Blues failing to really get him on the ball there was little to take note of.
Marc Guiu (Jackson, 66) – 5
Less impactful than Nicolas Jackson, but in considerably less time.
For a player who can dominate physically, he looked a little intimidated by the Manchester City defence and wasn’t really presented with any chances.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Lavia, 67) – 5
Many Chelsea fans were disappointed to see Romeo Lavia come off after a good performance, and Dewsbury-Hall failed to add any of the attacking prowess we saw in the Championship last season.
Renato Veiga (Cucurella, 80) – 5
He didn’t have enough time to impact the game after replacing Marc Cucurella, who had more time to establish himself as one of Chelsea’s better performers.
