How Surprise Arsenal Loan Exposed The Price Of Sterling’s Decline

Some video messages from old friends were played during Kevin De Bruyne’s tearful Manchester City farewell at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking from the stadium’s big screens, club legends, from Pablo Zabaleta to Sergio Aguero, wished him well as the midfielder watched on with his family.

Most messages were recorded humorously on phones from home, so it was odd to suddenly see a man wearing an Arsenal training jersey in a professionally lit boardroom.

“Yes, Kevin De Bruyne, it’s Raheem [Sterling] here. Just wanted to send you a message and a little bit of love,” the former City winger said in his unmistakable North West London tones.

“Obviously arriving to the club at the same time, we spent a lot of time together, our families together. I know how much of a wonderful person you are. Top guy; don’t say much, but when he does, it’s normally funny.

“Over the last 10 years at Manchester City, what you have achieved is quite incredible – how you’ve led the team.”

Sterling, of course, chose to leave North West England three years ago and joined Chelsea.

At the time, the move was pitched to the media as Sterling’s plan to hoover up soccer’s biggest international prizes, having conquered England repeatedly with City.

“I’ve obviously achieved a lot in my career so far, but there is still so much more to achieve, and I’m really looking forward to doing that in a Chelsea shirt under Thomas’s management,” he said in his unveiling.

It was suggested to the media that he wanted to win the Ballon d’Or and Champions League, and, still only 27, there seemed plenty of opportunity for him to achieve such goals.

Chelsea had only beaten Manchester City in the final of Europe’s top competition a year earlier and were preparing under new ownership for another tilt at glory.

But things haven’t gone to plan at all.

First, Chelsea imploded- it fired the man who brought him in, Thomas Tuchel replaced him with Graham Potter, and embarked on the wildest transfer sprees in living memory.

Weighed down by a bloated squad, the club tanked and has been miles off the level they were at when Sterling arrived.

The trouble for the Londoner is that this decline has tracked with a personal drop in form.

When current coach Enzo Maresca walked in the door last summer, the ownership had decided he was one of the players who needed to move on.

Salvation came in the form of an unlikely loan move to title challengers Arsenal. It represented a step up and a chance to prove he could still mix it with the best in the country.

But he has barely played and failed to impress in the few moments he was given an opportunity.

As BBC reporter Nizaar Kinsella pointed out, it was a move he had to make.

“He risked rotting in Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’ late last summer before being given the chance to go to Arsenal,” he wrote last month.

“Unfortunately, he hasn’t played well there, but it can’t have helped that he has effectively been used as an emergency backup by Mikel Arteta, with the club never likely to sign him permanently.

“I don’t actually think Sterling played too badly for Tuchel, Graham Potter or Mauricio Pochettino, but he is a victim of circumstance.

“He looks likely for another loan spell somewhere next summer, in my opinion, given clubs won’t want to pay his full wage.

“It’s also worth noting that Sterling has rejected the chance to move to Saudi Arabia in the past.”

Step Down To Step Up

It’s a sign of how far the former England star has fallen that the clubs he’s now being linked with are decidedly mid-table.

“He’s 30 now, but maybe a club like Fulham could give him that opportunity and more chances to play,” former Gunners defender William Gallas said in an interview with Casino Games. “I think it’s time for a fresh challenge for Sterling.

“I think one of Arteta’s biggest mistakes has been a lack of rotation at times because they have picked up injuries.

“You have to give players a rest at certain times, but with Sterling, he must be frustrated; maybe he will want to stay in the Premier League and in London.”

On a salary of $409,000 per week, finding a club with pockets deep enough to foot that bill won’t be easy.

It’s been reported that Sterling has been training intensely alone as he seeks a buyer. He was left out of Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad.

The concern is that he’s already cooked, as Jonathan Wilson suggested in The Guardian earlier this year.

He claimed that Sterling’s decline is related to the more than 500 games the player’s legs racked up.

“His decline has been startling; when the body starts to go, everything else that sustains a player at the highest level tails off too,” Wilson wrote.

“It’s a reminder of just how high a level Premier League footballers habitually operate at, just how fragile their excellence often is, how quickly a small decline can become a huge one.

“Sterling is only 30, but it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, at the highest level, he is finished. The law of 500 has struck again.”