Thomas Tuchel gives Raheem Sterling verdict with former Arsenal and Chelsea ace without club
Raheem Sterling during a Chelsea game(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)
Thomas Tuchel has admitted it is “sad to see” Raheem Sterling’s current plight, with the former Chelsea and Arsenal star currently without a club.
The 31-year-old swapped Manchester City for west London in a £47.5million deal in the summer of 2022, departing City after 131 goals in 339 games and winning four Premier League titles at the Etihad Stadium. His signing was seen as a massive statement of intent by the Blues, who were managed by Tuchel at the time.
But he was frozen out of the squad for the start of the 2024/25 campaign, when Enzo Maresca took charge, and then signed for Arsenal on loan. His spell at the Emirates Stadium did not go to plan as he failed to really make an impact during his time in north London. The now 31-year-old scored once in 28 appearances for the Gunners.
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The winger, on £325,000‑a‑week at the time, returned to Chelsea but his exit was confirmed in January earlier this year after the two parties reached a mutual agreement to bring an end to his time at Stamford Bridge. Sterling joined Feyenoord in February but, in truth, his time in the Netherlands was a disaster and he left at the end of the season.
Sterling, who won 82 caps for his country between 2012 and 2022, is now without a club and is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide.
“I have a lot of sympathy for him and I feel that he has struggled ever since he left Man City and he was at the peak of his career,” Tuchel said. “I was fighting for this transfer and he could never prove the importance that he normally had. It was a big step for him at that moment in time.
“It’s sad to see that someone struggles because he was a devoted father for his children and he was a family guy, a nice guy to be around. It just seems that he goes through a difficult period.
"I’m not sure how much is his fault, sometimes you just enter a strange spiral in your life, a downward spiral. Thoughts are with him of course, the belief is always that he can turn it around and I wish him the best.”
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