Chelsea FC Training Session And Press Conference - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD7 - Source: Getty
Chelsea FC Training Session And Press Conference - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD7 (Image Source: Getty)
Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Raheem Sterling for his potential exit this January. The Englishman is part of the infamous "bomb squad" at the club and is expected to leave.
Sterling was part of the "bomb squad" under former Blues boss Enzo Maresca. These players weren't allowed to train or eat with the first team and were told they had no future at the club. The English winger is part of it, despite being the club's highest earner at £325,000 per week.
As per Sky Sports, Chelsea are now in talks with Sterling's camp for a potential January exit. His contract at the club expires in 2027. New head coach Liam Rosenior also confirmed last week that the winger has no future at the club, saying (h/t The Sun):
“Raheem, at the moment we’re in conversations about different things and different options that are going on in his career. And hopefully that will be clearer in the next few days.”
Chelsea signed Sterling from Manchester City in the summer of 2022. He has made 81 appearances for them, scoring 19 goals and providing 15 assists. He was sent on loan to Arsenal last season and recorded one goal and five assists in 25 games for them.
Chelsea head coach opens up about another "bomb squad" member's return
Axel Disasi is another player who was part of the reported "bomb squad". He spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa and made 10 appearances for them. Unlike Raheem Sterling, Disasi has been brought back to first-team training at Chelsea under Liam Rosenior.
The English head coach explained:
“My decision on Axel, I had a really good meeting with him a couple of days ago. I wanted to catch up with him, see where he was in terms of his career. I said to the players, it’s one thing saying things, it’s another thing living that. I said to the players when I came in, it’s a clean slate for everybody. So it was only right for me to have a conversation with him, a really good conversation."
"I got to know him really, really well. It was the right thing to be back involved with the group. Because of the situation he’s been in, he’s behind in terms of his fitness, his match fitness, and we’ll keep working with him really, really hard to get him up to speed,” he added.
Chelsea signed Disasi from AS Monaco in 2023, and he has made 61 appearances for them, also contributing five goals and two assists.