Isolated from the team, ghosted by the coach: How Chelsea sidelined Sterling

Raheem Sterling is only a Chelsea FC professional on paper. The former player has now shared a photo of what his daily life looks like. What happened?

Three days earlier, coach Enzo Maresca had discussed the prospects for Sterling and fellow center-back Axel Disasi, who had also been dropped. They were even bleaker than the outlook on the way to the evening individual training session. "They're training alone, and the idea is to continue the same way," the Italian announced when asked. "I haven't seen Axel and Raheem since the start of the season because they train at a different time and on a different pitch." And when asked whether—especially given some injury concerns—there was a chance of a return, he replied: "To us? No."

Last year, Sterling gave in to Chelsea’s pressure

So what did Sterling and Disasi do to be "ghosted" by their own coach and separated from their teammates? Even to have to use a different locker room than Cole Palmer and the rest? Well, their problem is that they're still there. Even though they no longer had any sporting prospects under Maresca, they stayed. "They're Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club," Maresca said. That seems to be the last remaining connection.

Last summer, Chelsea pulled out all the stops to persuade players to leave, including Sterling, who, among other things, lost his shirt number . At the time, the attacker, who had joined from Manchester City for €56 million in 2022, agreed to a loan to Arsenal at the last minute, but Arsenal were reluctant to sign him permanently after a mixed season.

Afterward, Sterling reportedly considered another move within London for family reasons, but that didn't materialize, while Disasi, who was on loan at Aston Villa between February and June, apparently hoped in vain for a return to AS Monaco. Unlike former Union Berlin striker David Datro Fofana , who fled to Karagümrük SK in Istanbul on Saturday and now has more loan clubs on his resume than games for Chelsea, they accepted the isolation at the Blues.

Another sorting out managed a remarkable comeback

A well-paid isolation, of course. At a reported €375,000 a week, Sterling is the top earner in a squad whose average age and salary levels have been revised downwards by the new club owners led by Todd Boehly in several transfer windows following the excesses of the Abramovich era. A veteran like Sterling, who never matched his Man City numbers at Stamford Bridge anyway, simply doesn't fit in anymore.

It now appears as if both sides will limit themselves to playing by the book, if necessary, until the end of their contracts in 2027. However, there is one player who has shown that things can be done differently: Trevoh Chalobah was cornered in the summer of 2024 in a similar way to Sterling and was loaned to Crystal Palace, only to return early in the winter due to ongoing personnel concerns. The 26-year-old central defender is expected to be in the starting eleven in Munich.