Chelsea Make Contact With Manchester City Over $74M Forward [Details]

Chelsea have reportedly made contact with Manchester City over a deal for Raheem Sterling ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Sterling has a year left on his current contract with Manchester City. Chelsea are yet to submit an official bid for the English forward but the Blues are expected to do so in the coming days, reported BBC Sport.

Chelsea have made Sterling one of their top targets in the ongoing summer window.

The Blues boss Thomas Tuchel wants Sterling in his squad following the departure of Romelu Lukaku on loan to Inter Milan this summer, according to Goal.com. The report has further claimed that Sterling’s transfer fee is going to be more than Gabriel Jesus, who is set to join Arsenal for $55 million.

It was recently reported that Arsenal and Manchester City have agreed to a deal for Jesus, who is set to join the Emirates side on a five-year deal.

The 27-year-old Sterling’s current market value is around $74 million, according to Transfermarkt.

Sterling would be Chelsea's first major signing since they were taken over by a consortium led by Todd Boehly in May.

Following the departure of Marina Granovskaia, Behly was confirmed as Chelsea's interim sporting director and is set to lead negotiations.

While Sterling has never publicly said anything about wanting to leave City, it is understood that he is looking at different options for more game time after slipping down the pecking order at City.

Having joined Manchester City from Liverpool in 2015, Sterling scored 131 goals and 95 assists in 339 competitive appearances for the club.

Both Jesus and Sterling have decided to move on from Man City after the club signed Erling Haaland this summer.

The Pep Guardiola-managed side won the Premier League last season but once again failed at the top European level, having lost to Real Madrid on aggregate in the semi-final.

Los Blancos went on to win the title by beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final in Paris.

Even though Sterling spent over 3,000 minutes on the field last season for City, he was left out of the starting line-up for a number of big games, including both Champions League semi-final legs against Real Madrid and the final day league victory over Aston Villa.

Sterling finished the 2021-22 campaign with 17 goals and nine assists in 47 appearances for Man City.