Raheem Sterling will demand regular first-team football if he decides to quit Manchester City to join Chelsea.
The England star, who recently won his 75th cap for his country, has been linked with a sensational summer transfer to Stamford Bridge following the Blues' £4.25 billion takeover. Sterling is entering the final 12 months of his contract in Manchester and Mirror Football understands that he is weighing up his options after seven years with the champions and is open to a possible switch this summer.
With the World Cup around the corner, the 27-year-old is unwilling to risk his place in Gareth Southgate 's starting XI. The Sun report that Sterling is desperate not find himself on the bench in the build up to the tournament in Qatar. He is no longer a nailed-on starter under Pep Guardiola, having been selected for neither of their Champions League semi-final clashes with Real Madrid and would want assurances in west London of how he'll be used by Thomas Tuchel.
Etihad chiefs will still demand £60million to sanction a sale despite his contract status. City's acquisitions of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez are could limit his opportunities further next season, signings which have already prompted teammate Gabriel Jesus to explore a switch to Arsenal. Jesus has also bee offered to Chelsea, according to reports.
Sterling has committed his focus to England's final two Nations League matches this month before making a decision on his future, having already admitted that he is open to moving abroad, a direction which the Citizens would prefer. "If there was the option to go somewhere else for more game time I would be open to it," the winger told the FT Business of Sport US summit last October.
"As an English player all I know is the Premier League and I've always thought: 'You know, maybe one day I'd love to play abroad and see how I would come up against that challenge'. I'm not a person that’s going to complain [about game time]. I've not tried to make it a bigger deal than it actually is.
"I get on with my work, do what I need to do, and I'm just raring to go. [Ready to be] playing football matches regularly. Scoring goals regularly. If football for me is not at a certain standard I'm not really at my happiest. If I want my happiness at a certain level I need to be playing football. I need to be scoring goals. And enjoying myself."
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Guardiola hopes to see Sterling put pen to paper on a new deal but claims the situation is out his hands. "Nobody doubts how important it is," the ex-Barcelona boss declared in February. "What I want is [day after day] to play good. Not just him, but all the players. If we count the amount of games he has played since we are together, it is a lot. He is a key player.
"About the future, I don't know what is going to happen. The club decides. I give my opinion but of course the club takes the decision all the time."
His arrival would certainly be a statement from new Blues owner Todd Boehly and his consortium, whose long-awaited takeover was finally confirmed on May 30.
