Chelsea face another long summer trying to sell “flop of the season” after disaster loan | OneFootball

We’ve almost reached the end of the season, and that means a lot of the problems Chelsea have which have been “out of sight, out of mind” are about to come back to trouble us again.

Top of the list is Raheem Sterling. The club made it very clear to him last summer that they wanted nothing to do with him or his huge wages, and managed to shift him on loan to Arsenal on deadline day.

This meant we didn’t have to pay those wages (or at least a chunk of them) for the year, and there was also the hope that he would do well and earn a permanent move to the Gunners or elsewhere. It’s fair to say it hasn’t worked out that way. Ian Darke has just put Sterling in his “flops of the season” XI for ESPN:

“The ex-England winger has had a fine career, but has never looked the same player since he left Manchester City, where Pep Guardiola turned him into a prolific scorer (91 Premier League goals in seven seasons.),” Darke wrote.

“This year Sterling has been a bit-part player on loan from Chelsea at Arsenal, where his Premier League return is 13 appearances, zero goals and two assists.”

There was even a suggestion that Sterling might return to Chelsea early, given his lack of impact in the first half of the season.

Chelsea face another tough battle to shift unwanted winger

Raheem Sterling in action for Arsenal. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

It will be another summer of desperately trying to flog Sterling for Chelsea, it seems. And it will likely be even harder than last year give his poor performances on loan.

The sporting directors have a lot on their plate this summer, and this will be one of the really tricky situations to navigate for them.