Chelsea ‘confident’ of signing Raheem Sterling and could sign Man City ace for just £35m

Manchester City star Raheem Sterling could be on the verge of a move to Chelsea with the Blues supposedly ‘confident’ of signing the England star for a fee of just £35million. Chelsea are keeping an eye on the Englishman as they look to upgrade their attack.

Sterling joined City for £49m in 2015 and has been an unrivalled success since his move from Liverpool. But competition for places is huge at City and Sterling is out of contract in 2023, raising the possibility he could move now.

The 27-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Premier League champions for over a year, with Barcelona and Real Madrid potential destinations. However, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, the England wide-man could make the move back to his hometown of London to sign for Chelsea in a deal worth just £35m.

The report claims that Sterling is very high up on Chelsea’s shortlist, with the club looking for an attacker to take them to the next level. Sterling has just one year left on his contract, and City may look to cash in before they risk losing him for free next summer.

With Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer all capable of playing out wide, City have the talent to fill the void left by Sterling. Chelsea are looking to offset Romelu Lukaku’s expected move back to Inter Milan after just one uninspiring year at the club and Sterling could replace him in the front three.

Sterling, who grew up in west London, could be tempted by a move back to his home city. And at the age of just 27, whilst also being likely to be the main man for Chelsea should he move, he will stay fresh in the mind of Gareth Southgate ahead of the World Cup in November.

Sterling shared his love for the England boss after the Three Lions lost 4-0 to Hungary on Tuesday. “No one was expecting it. I think it’s been a disappointed camp overall in a sense that there’ve been games that we should have won,” Sterling said.

“But football’s cruel sometimes and we’ll take this one on the chin, recover well and get ready for the campaign in September.

“Of course it’s disappointing, of course there’s going to be question marks, of course there’s going to be doubts. But I’m more than confident in the group that we have. It’s solely down to us as players.”