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Raheem Sterling is without a club and awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, while Harry Kane continues to break records. Sources describe the former England star as a lost soul whose career has declined sharply.
Raheem Sterling is without a club and awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty at Basingstoke magistrates court to dangerous driving. The former England international, now 16 months younger than Harry Kane, has seen his career decline starkly while Kane continues to break records as England captain and hit a personal high of 73 goals last season.
Sterling would be in the current England squad, playing for manager Thomas Tuchel, who made him the No 1 target of the new Chelsea era after the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover. Instead, multiple sources who asked not to be named to protect relationships paint a complicated picture of Sterling. One describes him as a lost soul. Another believes he has been hopelessly misguided in his life and career.
Sterling Rise From Liverpool Academy
To understand his fall, it is pertinent to remember the magnitude of his rise. Those who saw Sterling's ascent from the boy helping his mum on cleaning jobs in Stonebridge to the outrageously gifted footballer in Queens Park Rangers' academy, to Liverpool's first team at 17, recall a player who seemed perfectly calibrated for success. Raheem was confident, says Mark Anderson, the Liverpool youth scout who convinced the club to make him one of the most expensive 15-year-olds.
He played with passion and desire. From the first time I saw him, I thought he had the ingredients to become an international prospect. Sterling was quickly training with Liverpool's first team, where players were stunned that this slight teen possessed a natural strength beyond many adults. He was rarely seen in the gym, yet held his own against Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure, who towered over him.
Raheem was much tougher mentally than some people might have imagined, Steven Gerrard wrote in his book, My Story, admitting that he and Jamie Carragher did not go easy on him in training. But a turning point came when he rejected a £100,000-a-week contract and became engulfed in a public storm. It marked a shift in how he was perceived: from England's brightest prospect to arrogant young footballer, fair or not.
Public sentiment had begun to shift from England's fifth-youngest debutant to the player who told Roy Hodgson he was too tired for a game against Estonia. The first images of Sterling inhaling from a balloon allegedly filled with nitrous oxide emerged in 2015. Leaving Liverpool darkened the mood, and the reputation has since haunted him.
England Pressure and Public Scrutiny
Particularly with England, where he became the scapegoat for the Euro 2016 last-16 exit to Iceland, the abuse so toxic that Sterling branded himself #TheHatedOne on Instagram. He was 21. He also faced a racially motivated attack. Yet he scored in the League Cup final shootout and secured the Football Writers' Association's footballer of the year award.
A year later, Xavi Hernandez claimed Sterling was winning the race to replace Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The street footballer was tamed by Pep Guardiola's brilliantly rigid systems. By 2021, he had twice finished in the top 15 of Ballon d'Or voting.
England reached the Euro 2020 final: two winners were the only goals of England's group stage, the opener against Germany in the last 16 and winning the penalty that led to the decisive goal against Denmark in the semi-final. But even his attempts to do good seemed to turn some against him. He called out racism in society, particularly his own depictions in the media after criticism for buying his mother a house.
In 2020, he recorded an anti-racism video declaring I will never tire of being black, texting contributors including Kevin De Bruyne, David Alaba and Jordan Henderson to ask them to take part. He received an MBE a year later. If anything, it made some who did not know Sterling personally more fervently opposed to him. One source who worked closely with Sterling describes him as polite and charming, saying: He doesn't come across as arrogant or having an attitude.
Chelsea Decline and Career Setback
He's a nice guy, shy, quite bashful. In some quarters, there has been a degree of glee in the way Sterling's career declined sharply after he joined Chelsea. Sterling was the player Tuchel told Boehly to prioritise, the American billionaire captivated by the prospect of making a forward fresh from winning his fourth Premier League title in five years their marquee signing. Tuchel was sacked seven weeks later.
In the years that followed, Sterling played under Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca. One source questioned whether leaving the rigid structures of Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and Guardiola at Manchester City for the chaos at Chelsea was damaging. From posting extraordinary numbers at City, 23 goals and 14 assists in 2017-18, 25 and 16 in 2018-19, 31 and 10 in 2019-20, his output dwindled.
A collective decision at Chelsea in summer 2024 to sell him was made based on his personal life and ability to play in the team. In a particularly brutal week, two days before the start of the 2024-25 season, Maresca told Sterling he was not part of his plans and left him out of the squad for the game against Manchester City and a Conference League tie with Servette in which Pedro Neto wore his No 7 shirt.
Sterling was forced to train away from the first team. It seems he was not entirely innocent here. The Guardian was told he was known to turn up late for training when he was supposed to set an example, though sources close to Sterling say he never faced a recorded disciplinary at Chelsea. His treatment ultimately was harsh, though it is understood Maresca assessed his wingers during friendlies until a final call was made.
Arsenal Loan and Exit Search
Sterling made clear he wanted to stay in London for his family, and Chelsea reluctantly sanctioned a loan to Arsenal. He scored once, in a Carabao Cup game against League One club Bolton on 25 September 2024, his most recent professional goal. When he returned, sources say he was told to stay away from the main facilities at Cobham, though a Chelsea source denied this was the case.
Sterling declined loan interest from Juventus, but by January, after six months without playing, needed to move for the sake of his career. The club agreed to buy him out of the remaining 18 months of his contract.
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