RAHEEM Sterling has been left in footballing limbo after failing to secure a move away from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, alongside Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana.
The trio are the final remaining members of Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’, which was largely evacuated from the club this summer, and previously included names such as Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chuwuemeka, Renato Veiga, Armando Broja, Alfie Gilchrist and Ben Chilwell.
And despite being paid handsomely to do so, those unwanted by Enzo Maresca, including one of the finest England and Premier League players of a generation, are being kept entirely separated from the first team.
The extent to which they are isolates is astonishing, being made to use a separate toilet, a separate changing room, and to eat away from first-teamers.
It raises questions over how these players are being treated, regardless of the wages they are being paid.
The exile that Sterling and the other unwanted players have faced is the kind of measure usually reserved for punishing individuals for disciplinary breaches.
At the age of 30, Sterling is a mentally robust individual, having experienced the highs and lows of being a footballer since he emerged as a wonderkid at QPR.
But there must have been a psychological strain even for him from being essentially banned from hanging out with his mates at work.
It was no secret that Sterling was close to Cole Palmer and other players.
Disasi is – or should that be was? – a popular member of Chelsea’s French-speaking cohort, which includes Malo Gusto, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana.
The fate of Sterling, a four-time Premier League winner with 82 England caps, is the most stark.
Sympathy is sometimes lacking for him because of his £325,000-per-week wages.
But lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia and the MLS were of no interest to him.
Sterling still believes he can return to the England squad and wants to play at a level that would give him the best chance of doing that.
When he left Manchester City to join the Blues in 2022, he brought his young family with him down south and would have preferred an opportunity to join a London club.
But Sterling is believed to have made it clear at the start of the summer that he would not be rushed into a last-minute move again, having been presented with the Arsenal loan in the 11th hour of last summer’s deadline day.
Yet despite having months to sort out Sterling’s situation, Chelsea were unable to find a solution.
And as the clock ticked down on Monday, despite rumours of interest from Fulham and Crystal Palace, nothing concrete emerged.
Disasi also stood firm, apparently rejecting loan opportunities from West Ham and other clubs.
And Celtic’s alleged pursuit of Datro Fofana also came to nothing.
Meanwhile Chelsea were busy finalising a number of other incoming and outgoing deals, not least Nicolas Jackson’s loan to Bayern Munich, Chilwell’s intriguing sale to sister club Strasbourg and the failed attempt to sell Tyrique George to Fulham.
Sorting out Sterling’s situation was clearly well down the list of priorities.
Maybe he should have gone down the same route as Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa.
Both players secured deadline day transfers after creating a fuss all summer by going public with their determination to leave and claims of broken promises.
Disasi DID post a photograph of the sparse little room in which he, Sterling and the rest of the bomb squad had to get changed.
But that was the closest the Frenchman has cometo showing any dissent.
As Palace’s Marc Guehi has also learned from the last-minute collapse of his move to Liverpool, professionalism does not always pay.
While Palace boss Oliver Glasner made it clear what his feelings were about Guehi’s potential move, Blues head coach Enzo Maresca has adopted an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude to Sterling and the ‘bomb squad’.
CHELSEA’S TRANSFER WINDOW REPORT
The pros and cons of the 2025 summer transfer window at Stamford Bridge
Pros:
– Big fees for unwanted players, raising over £300m in sales, a record for a PL club in a singular window.
– Secured long term deals for young, future stars including Joao Pedro and Estevao.
– Added depth to key areas including defensive midfield, left-wing and left-back.
Cons:
– Showed interest in top-class goalkeepers and attacking midfielders, failing to sign either.
– Not able to use the market to replace the injured Levi Colwill or Liam Delap, may regret selling Nicolas Jackson.
– Still have Raheem Sterling collecting hefty wages, after being unable to find a move for him.
When the window was still open, and Ugochukwu had just joined Burnley, Maresca said: “The situation, I think, is quite clear. They are training. I guess they are waiting for a solution.
“But when they leave, it’s just the club that they text me or call me.
“It was just mentioned to me that Lesley joined Burnley.
“I have this kind of news from the club because I don’t pay attention to the ones who are training and need to leave.
“I just focus on how we prepare for the session, how we can win games.”
However, he will surely now be forced to confront the issue and decide whether to re-integrate the players or if they will be sparsely used in Carabao Cup fixtures or banished entirely as they have been so far.
The first implication of those plans will come tonight, at 11pm, when Chelsea will submit their Champions League squad to Uefa.
Last season, in the Conference League, Disasi was named on the A-list for the league phase and loaned to Aston Villa before the knockouts in January, while Sterling competed in the Champions League with Arsenal.
It would be a total shock if any of them are included in Chelsea’s squad as they return to Europe‘s top competition, although George is expected to be included.
Sterling, Disasi and Datro Fofana will now continue to train separately – if necessary until the next opportunity comes for the club to negotiate a deal that works for Chelsea and the players in January.
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