Opinion: Sterling to Chelsea from Manchester City Would be a Surprising Move

Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling is set for a potential move to Chelsea, should the reports coming out today be true.

As reported on Bitter and Blue, Sterling could be set to move to Stamford Bridge for a figure of around £50-£60m. However, if the move does materialise, it would raise a few eyebrows with some of the Chelsea fanbase.

It was four years ago when City visited Stamford Bridge and Sterling was racially abused by a supporter who was later banned. The England man went on record to say that he expected no better after the supporter was understood to have called him a f****** black c***.

From the images, it didn’t appear to be just one supporter, as many at that end of the ground hurled abuse at Sterling as he went to take a corner. So, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Sterling would be happy to play in front of supporters that were openly hostile and racially abusive towards him.

Of course, it would be remiss to place all Chelsea fans in the same bracket as those senseless, uneducated and Neanderthalic individuals, whose attitudes towards black players in the game firmly belong back in the 70’s, and they weren’t acceptable then.

But the fact that some looked on, smiling as the abuse rained down on the City man, that racism looks to be the norm, particularly at that end of the ground. And that should be a concern for Sterling. So far, it doesn’t seem to have bothered the England winger, and we can only hope that his time at Stamford Bridge will be more pleasant than that cold, December afternoon in 2018.

Losing Sterling will be a wrench for City

It will be a wrench to see Sterling move from the blues of City to the dark blue of Chelsea. The England man has been idolised by many during his time at the Etihad Stadium, but last season, he failed to hit the form that saw him loved by the faithful.

But Sterling still had a role to play at City, and it does seem a bit odd that, given his status amongst the fans, that he would decide to bring an end to his City career. Sure, his form dipped for a while, and it was questioned whether his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola had soured. Towards the end of the 20/21 season, Sterling seemed to drop out of favour with the Catalan boss, but last season, made 30 appearances for City, the least he has played since joining in 2015.

This certainly adds a little fuel the managerial rift rumours, and the winger failed to make the starting line-up for both legs of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. You’d have thought that someone of Sterling’s ability would have been a guaranteed starter.

However, Sterling has his reasons for wanting away from Manchester City and no doubt we’ll find out what they are, but maybe not for a few years. The winger has a cult following at City, and its doubtful he’ll say anything about he last couple of seasons in Manchester while he is still playing in the Premier League.

As always though, we wish him and Gabriel Jesus all the very best at their new clubs. As long as they don’t come back to haunt us in the future!!!