Chelsea are in talks with Raheem Sterling for his exit this January. The Englishman is a part of the infamous "bomb squad" at the side and is expected to leave.
What is the 'bomb squad'?
Sterling was a member of the "bomb squad" under former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca. These players were not allowed to train or eat with the first team and they were informed that they had no future at the club. The English winger is a part of it, despite being the club's highest earner at £325,000 per week.
As per Sky Sports, Chelsea are now in talks with Sterling's camp for a possible January exit. His contract with the club expires in 2027. Newly appointed head coach Liam Rosenior also confirmed last week that the winger has no future at the club, saying:
“Raheem, at the moment we’re in conversations about different things and different options that are going on in his career. And hopefully that will be clearer in the next few days.”
Raheem Sterling's inconsistent career
Chelsea signed Sterling from Manchester City in the season of 2022. He has played 81 games for them, scoring 19 goals and giving 15 assists. He was sent on loan to Arsenal last season and amassed one goal and five assists in 25 games for them.
Chelsea head coach reacts on another 'bomb squad' member's comeback
Axel Disasi is another player who was part of the claimed "bomb squad". He represented Aston Villa in the second half of the season on a loan deal and played 10 games for them. Unlike Raheem Sterling, Disasi has been brought back to first-team training at Chelsea under Liam Rosenior.
The English coach explained:
“My decision on Axel, I had a really good meeting with him a couple of days ago. I wanted to catch up with him, see where he was in terms of his career. I said to the players, it’s one thing saying things, it’s another thing living that. I said to the players when I came in, it’s a clean slate for everybody. So it was only right for me to have a conversation with him, a really good conversation."
"I got to know him really, really well. It was the right thing to be back involved with the group. Because of the situation he’s been in, he’s behind in terms of his fitness, his match fitness, and we’ll keep working with him really, really hard to get him up to speed,” he added.
Axel Disasi's stats for Chelsea
Chelsea signed Disasi from AS Monaco in 2023, and he has played 61 matches for them, also scoring five goals and two assists.