Raheem Sterling completed a shock move to Feyenoord on Thursday afternoon. The 31-year-old became a free agent in January after his contract at Chelsea was mutually terminated.
Sterling has carefully considered his next move in the last few weeks and, after interest from 18 clubs across the top four leagues, he decided to join Robin van Persie's Feyenoord in a deal until the end of the season. Sterling said after the move was announced:
“As a free agent, I've had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step in my career. I wanted to take my time to speak with clubs and their Head Coaches to better understand the role they envisioned for me and ensure that I can add real value in this next chapter.
"Having spoken in great detail with Robin, I'm confident that Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team. Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me - and one I’m ready to embrace. Honestly, I’m just excited to get started."
Sterling joins Feyenoord with the club second in the Eredivisie, a distant 17 points behind runaway leaders PSV.
Raheem Sterling's Eye-Opening Wage at Feyenoord Revealed
Raheem Sterling in action for Arsenal
Chelsea made Sterling one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League when he completed a move to west London in 2022. He signed a five-year contract worth a whopping £325,000-per-week. That meant he earned just under £10 million in the first half of the 2025/26 campaign, despite not kicking a ball for Chelsea in that time.
Sterling was never going to earn anywhere near that amount of money after departing Chelsea, unless he decided to move to Saudi Arabia. His wage at Feyenoord has now been revealed and, unsurprisingly, he has taken a mammoth pay-cut.
According to Capology, Sterling is now earning a base wage of £22,742 at De club aan de Maas, a far cry from what he was earning in the Premier League.
The 23 Highest-Paid Players in the Eredivisie
raheerm sterling
Sterling is now the 23rd highest-paid player in Dutch football, according to Capology figures. The top nine highest-paid players in the country are largely dominated by representatives from PSV and Ajax.
PSV defender Serginio Dest is currently the highest-paid player in the Eredivisie, earning £65,072-per-week. He has followed by Ajax duo, Kasper Dolberg and Ko Itakura, who each earn £58,958 every seven days.
The only player that features in the top nine that isn't from Netherlands' two biggest clubs is Utretcht's Sebastian Haller. The Ivorian has not justified his £48,970-per-week wages after netting just one goal so far this season.
Three Feyenoord players earn more money than Sterling. They are former Sheffield United defender Anel Ahmedhodžić (£25,896-per-week), Sam Steijn and Hwang In-beom (both £24,402-per-week).
23 highest-paid players in the Eredivisie
Rank
1
=2
=2
=4
=4
=4
=4
=8
=8
=10
=10
=10
=10
14
15
16
=17
=17
=17
=20.
=20.
22.
23.