Statement released by Raheem Sterling in comparison to Lukaku interview

Chelsea's first game of the season has not even kicked off yet and chaos and confusion already reign.

We knew many players would struggle to make the matchday squad – that's pure arithmetic. But we didn't expect Raheem Sterling to be one of those ruled out completely. He clearly didn't expect it either – just minutes after the team news, his team released a statement:

“Raheem Sterling has a three-year contract with Chelsea Football Club. He returned to England two weeks early to train individually and has had a positive pre-season under the new manager, with whom he has built up a good working relationship.

More stories about Raheem Sterling

“He is, as ever, determined to perform at his best for Chelsea FC and the fans he values ​​so highly and, given his mention in the club's official pre-match material this week, we assumed Raheem would be involved in this weekend's encounter in some capacity.

“As a camp, we have always maintained a positive dialogue with Chelsea FC regarding Raheem’s future at the club and have received assurances from him, so we look forward to getting clarity on the situation.

Some are comparing this to the infamous Romelu Lukaku interview in terms of the potential disruption to the team. We wouldn't go that far as it's a more polite matter, but it's certainly not ideal and could lead to much worse.

Chaos before kick-off

As we wrote in the article linked here shortly before publishing this statement, it was clear that this would cause problems.

Sterling has been there all summer, in training and on tour, only to find out on matchday one that he is not in his boss's plans – to the extent that he is not even allowed on the bench. It's a slap in the face for one of the few experienced players in the squad and a huge risk to sign a player who earns £300,000 a week and is under no pressure to go anywhere if he doesn't want to.

Chelsea are playing a very dangerous game here: to force players like Sterling out of the squad, they risk creating a terribly toxic environment that even the players they Do like playing well.