Raheem Sterling recently revealed to fans the situation facing Chelsea’s "fringe group" of players—himself included—who can only come to the Cobham Training Ground to train alone in the evening.
The 30-year-old winger is among the few players who failed to leave Stamford Bridge after the transfer window closed. As a result, since the start of the season, he has also been training alone at Cobham, completely isolated from the first team. Despite Chelsea’s injury list continuing to grow, manager Jesse Marsch has ruled out the possibility of the star—who previously played for Manchester City and Liverpool—returning to the first team.
On Monday evening, Sterling shared his lonely situation of being sidelined at Chelsea on Instagram. He posted a photo of an empty training pitch at Cobham, with the time shown as 20:21, and captioned it only with "Training" along with handshake and cold face emojis.
Last Friday, the tough-talking Marsch made it clear that he was unlikely to change his stance on these fringe players (the list also includes Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana). Marsch said: "They are Chelsea players because they have contracts with the club. Currently, they are still training individually, and the plan is to continue with this arrangement. Since the start of the season, I have not seen any of them—I haven’t seen Renato (Vega), I haven’t seen Axel (Disasi), I haven’t seen Raheem (Sterling). They train at different times and on different pitches, and I haven’t seen them since the season began." When asked if there was any chance these players could return to the first team, Marsch stated bluntly: “Train with us? No.”
At the time Sterling posted the update, reports emerged that a European club had expressed interest in him in the final moments before the transfer window closed. Bayern Munich had inquired about the 30-year-old on deadline day. The Bundesliga giants were in advanced talks with Chelsea over Nicolas Jackson’s transfer (the last-minute loan deal was ultimately delayed due to the injury of new Chelsea summer signing Tyler Drabble) and are understood to have also considered signing Sterling. Serie A champions Napoli are also believed to be interested in Sterling, but it is reported that the player himself preferred to stay in England—even if he couldn’t remain in London.
It is understood that Sterling’s weekly salary of up to £325,000 is regarded as a key factor deterring many suitors. The Daily Mail also reported earlier this month that although the Saudi Pro League’s transfer window remains open until September 23, Sterling is unwilling to move to Saudi Arabia.
