Why Chelsea's Pursuit Of Manchester City's Raheem Sterling Is Stalling

Manchester City are set to demand a sizeable fee for Raheem Sterling as Chelsea eye a swoop for the forward, as per reports.

While Raheem Sterling has cemented his legacy as a Manchester City and Premier League legend during his time at the Etihad Stadium, the last two seasons have seen him hit a slight rough patch.

During the 2020/21 season, the prolific winger was largely underwhelming by his own lofty standards.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling (Image: Alamy)

Despite starring for England at the European Championships last summer, talk of a rift between Raheem Sterling and Pep Guardiola meant the player seemed to be open to an exit.

After staying put in Manchester and playing a key role in Manchester City's Premier League winning campaign, the 27-year-old remained in and out of Guardiola's starting XI.

Chelsea have been deemed as the overwhelming favourites to secure the Englishman’s signature this summer and are understood to have progressed in talks with City over a deal for Sterling this weekend.

Manchester City forwards Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez (Image: Alamy)

Being an irregular fixture in Manchester City’s line-up is believed to be the prime reason why Sterling has expressed a desire to leave and refused to extend his current deal at the Etihad Stadium beyond 2023.

Thomas Tuchel and Raheem Sterling are also widely claimed to have held positive talks over where the Englishman would fit into the former's starting XI in west London.

Sterling is also believed to have enquired about what life is like under the German coach at Stamford Bridge as he weighed up a possible return to the city he grew up in.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling (Image: Alamy)

Manchester City have held talks with Sterling over his future following his return from international duty in June.

The Sky Blues are keen to get majority of their transfer business sorted before Pep Guardiola jets off to the United States with his side for pre-season.

However, there has been a rising belief amongst various quarters that Sterling wants to leave Manchester City this summer and is keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling (Image: Alamy)

As all signs point to the move coming to fruition sooner rather than later, a new report has outlined the main obstacle in the dealings between City and Chelsea at present.

According to a report by Dharmesh Sheth of Sky Sports, the possibility of the transfer hinges on whether Chelsea will agree to pay Manchester City’s valuation of their forward.

It is stated that considering the England international is in the prime of his professional career, City will demand a good price to sanction his sale.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling (Image: Alamy)

However, with Sterling entering the final 12 months of his contract at the Etihad Stadium, the two-time Champions League winners are seemingly testing City’s resolve to keep hold of the attacker.

It was reported that Chelsea had made an initial offer of €25 million plus add-ons to sign Sterling - a bid that was swiftly rejected by the Premier League champions.

Manchester City are understood to be looking for a figure between £50-60 million for Sterling, to surpass the fee obtained from the sale of Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal.