Manchester United have been linked with the England winger after he was sidelined by Chelsea
Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling(Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester United emerged as a potential landing spot for Chelsea outcast Raheem Sterling earlier this week.
The England winger has found himself sidelined at Stamford Bridge this month after he was dropped from new manager Enzo Maresca’s squad for the opening game of the Premier League season before losing his squad number to new signing Pedro Neto.
Maresca has made it clear that Sterling ‘won’t get any minutes’ if he stays with the club, which gives the 29-year-old until Friday evening’s transfer deadline to resolve his short-term future.
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Manchester United have been busy retooling their squad this summer following last season’s eighth-placed Premier League finish and now details of what they would be willing to offer Sterling have been reported.
According to GiveMeSport, the Red Devils are ready with a £150,000-per-week wage packet for the winger, which is considerably less than his £325,000 weekly wage on his current Chelsea deal which runs for another three years.
The report adds that Sterling would have to settle for being a squad player at Old Trafford and he would be signed primarily as a back-up for Marcus Rashford on the left-hand side of the attack or as a false-nine.
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Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca (Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester United’s proposed move for Sterling could rely on Jadon Sancho leaving the club, amid interest in the former Borussia Dortmund man from Italian side Juventus.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, there are a few elements to this deal that don’t add up from a Manchester United perspective. Should the club seal their mooted deal for Manuel Ugarte, their spending will be nearing the £200million mark this summer and the club will need to have more than one eye on PSR compliance. Sterling is valued at €35million by Transfermarkt.
At 29 years old, Sterling does not fit the profile of the kind of player the club have been targeting this summer, while Sterling himself would likely have to reach some sort of settlement with Chelsea if he is to take such a big pay cut.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
