Why Raheem Sterling Is Unlikely To Make First Chelsea Appearance Against Club America

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed why Raheem Sterling is unlikely to feature for the Blues in their first outing of pre-season against Club America.

Sterling’s arrival was confirmed earlier this week after Chelsea agreed a fee of around £50 million, including add-ons, with Manchester City. 

The 27-year-old linked up with his teammates on Wednesday for his first training session while the club were in Los Angeles training at the UCLA campus.

Sterling’s first opportunity to play for the Blues was against Club America in Las Vegas this weekend, but whether he’d be fit enough in time to be involved remained unclear after joining the group late. 

Tuchel has plenty of options after taking a large squad out to the United States, and even though he led from the front at the Allegiant Stadium on Friday during training, the England international isn’t likely to play against the Mexican side. 

"He is on an individual programme, he didn't join the team because some of the team are two weeks ahead of him with training sessions, double training sessions, and there are intense training sessions ahead of him,” Tuchel said during a media conference in Las Vegas. 

"It is not the moment that he joins full team training in every minute on the pitch.

"We will see what happens but it is pretty obvious what he delivers and that's exactly what you see on the pitch. 

“I have a feeling that he is absolutely happy to be here.

"It's a new chapter for him and I feel he is ready to fulfil this chapter in his career.

"They are relaxed first days on an individual programme, which is pretty demanding but on a different level to the others.

"He will join the training from today (Friday) but he is not there yet."

Tuchel added: “For Raheem, we have not decided the line up but he did not train every minute with the team so it is not very likely that he will play."

Armando Broja will be absent against Club America due to picking up an injury in training this week, which has left him sidelined from training and in the treatment room.  

Kalidou Koulibaly won’t be involved either due to only signing for Chelsea just under 24 hours before the friendly against Club America. 

Sterling’s first, unofficial, minutes for Chelsea are likely to come against Charlotte FC and Arsenal next week, before they head to Italy at the end of the month to face Udinese.