Arsenal signed Leandro Trossard from Brighton & Hove Albion in January to accompany Buyako Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Reiss Nelson in attack, but Mikel Arteta might be on the hunt for another wide-man if reports are to be believed.
Tom Gott and Graeme Bailey of 90min say Mikel Arteta wants a ‘reunion’ with Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling as he wants to build a squad capable of challenging on all four fronts next season. The England international had Arteta as his assistant manager at Manchester City until 2019.
Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League table and should qualify in the Champions League, so they’ll need depth in every position to cope with the demanding fixtures – clubs can end up playing up to 63 games if they reach the final of every cup competition.
Sterling has point to prove
So Sterling would help lighten the load while providing a real goal threat based on his impressive record prior to joining Chelsea. The 28-year-old netted 23 goals with 25 assists in 129 games for Liverpool (2010 – 2015) and bagged 131 goals with 95 assists from 339 games for Manchester City (2015 – 2022), so the interest makes sense.
He’s not had the same impact at Chelsea, however, with six goals and three assists from 25 games in all competitions, so might Sterling be open to a change over the summer?
The 28-year-old has been short of form, fitness and playing time in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, so Arsenal would be an attractive proposition. But whether the Blues cash in just a year after signing Sterling is unknown. The attacker still has four-and-a-half years remaining on his deal and is now valued at around £61m by Transfermarket so a deal wouldn’t be cheap.
Arsenal have a good relationship with the Blues after numerous transfer deals down the years, ending with Jorginho making the switch in January, so negotiating with Chelsea might not be a problem. The potential price tag and £350k-per-week salary could prove a stumbling block though.
Arsenal’s highest-earner takes home £265k-per-week, so Sterling might be too much for the Gunners.
