Chelsea complete Sterling signing from Manchester City

Twitter (@ChelseaFC)

England forward Raheem Sterling has joined Chelsea on a five-year contract from Manchester City, the two Premier League clubs announced on Wednesday.

The deal is worth up to 50 million pounds (AED 217 million), according to British media reports.

"I've obviously achieved a lot in my career so far, but there is still so much more to achieve and I'm really looking forward to doing that in a Chelsea shirt," Sterling told the club website.

"London is my home and where it all started for me, and it's amazing I now have the opportunity to play in front of friends and family week in, week out at Stamford Bridge."

Sterling becomes Chelsea's first signing under the new ownership led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who officially took over from Russian Roman Abramovich at the end of May.

The 27-year-old played 47 games in all competitions for City last season, scoring 17 times and providing nine assists.

After starting his senior career with Liverpool, Sterling moved to City in July 2015 and established himself as a regular in the Manchester club's frontline, netting 131 times in 339 games for Pep Guardiola's side.

He went on to win both the league title and League Cup four times as well as one FA Cup.

However, he fell down the pecking order last season, playing only a limited role in City's run to the league title and the Champions League semi-final, with Guardiola often preferring Phil Foden or Jack Grealish on the left side of attack.

Sterling said farewell to City in a social media post earlier on Wednesday.

"I arrived in Manchester a 20-year-old. Today, I leave as a man. Thank you for your endless support. It's been an honour to wear the shirt of Manchester City," he wrote.

Sterling, capped 77 times by England, will add much-needed firepower to Chelsea's attack following their struggles in front of goal last season and the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan.

Thomas Tuchel's side finished third last season, 19 points behind champions City. They kick off the new season with a trip to Everton on Aug. 6.

 

 

More from Sports

  • Bhatia relishing chance to showcase game at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

    Rising star Akshay Bhatia is relishing the chance to showcase his game away from the PGA Tour as the American prepares for his Hero Dubai Desert Classic debut at the Emirates Golf Club from January 16-19.

  • Fury retires from boxing again

    Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury announced his retirement from the sport on Monday after losing his rematch for WBA (Super), WBO and WBC world heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk last month.

  • Dubai Basketball completes season sweep over Crvena Zvezda

    Dubai Basketball silenced Crvena Zvezda’s passionate fans on Sunday night in Belgrade, with a season-best performance to secure a defining sweep of the reigning ABA League Champions with a 107-92 win.

  • Swiatek, Gauff through to Australian Open 2nd Round

    World number two Iga Swiatek advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Monday with an unconvincing 6-3 6-4 win against first-time opponent Katerina Siniakova on John Cain Arena.

  • Sinner survives tough test, Alcaraz eases through

    Jannik Sinner launched his Australian Open title defence with a 7-6 7-6 6-1 win over Nicolas Jarry on Monday in a match that put the players' contrasting doping cases in the spotlight, while Carlos Alcaraz began his bid to complete a career Grand Slam with a 6-1 7-5 6-1 win over Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko.