Sterling should be kicking a ball not kicking his heels.
Show me the money before you show me the door.
Every conversation I’ve ever had with Raheem Sterling his love of football shaped his every word. We’ve spoken about far weightier matters than football, like religion, racism, media intrusion and children, but talk so often came back to his passion for beating a full-back, for assisting and scoring. I once interviewed Sterling during his City days in the garden of his house south-west of Manchester and he chatted away while curling balls past a mannequin into a full-size goal.
It’s important to appreciate that Sterling is a talent. You don’t get bought by Pep Guardiola at City, get picked by him to start 193 Premier League games, come off the bench in 32 more, score 91 goals, and win four titles under such a demanding coach without being an exceptional player. You don’t move for almost £100m in transfer fees without being a stellar talent. He was poor at Chelsea last season but there’s still a good player in there. Sterling just needs to re-acquaint himself with match-day, with the first whistle, and get back out there expressing himself again. What does he want, money or memories? He can actually have both.
Chelsea are so eager to offload him that doing a deal with a buying club should not be too difficult. Sterling, though, has pointed out he wants his Chelsea contract addressed first. Show me the money before you show me the door. Can a player lose that love and simply see his passion as his profession, and that it is simply about the money?