Although fan opinions of Raheem Sterling remains split, when it comes to current and former player or coaches, there is no two ways about it. This is a very good move for Chelsea.
The Blues are closing in on a deal to bring the Manchester City and England winger to Stamford Bridge in a move that could make him the first male signing of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership era. football.london understands that a £45million transfer, with additional add-ons worth £10million, has been agreed, as Thomas Tuchel attempts to get his first summer signing onto his tour of America as soon as possible.
Chelsea have so far been slow in the transfer market, seemingly missing out on two target wingers other than Sterling, and having talks for centre backs dry up. Sterling provides a point of intrigue for the club though, as a player that has won four of the last five Premier League titles is added to the squad.
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Surprisingly, there hasn't been a consensus within the Blues fanbase as to how good this deal is, with many pointing to the quality of Pep Guardiola's team when levels of his output are stated. The argument that City create more and better quality chances than Chelsea, therefore giving Sterling a larger volume to be effective with, is a popular one among fans, but Chelsea's former title winning goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has weighed in on the topic, describing the attacker with great praise.
"When you look at Raheem, he came onto the scene as a youngster and he showed quality at a really young age and he was really productive at a young age," Begovic told the Byline podcast. "He's matured into one heck of a player. He has so much quality.
"When he first came on he had raw speed, he still has that now, but he's a really quality player with really good, really intelligent movement. He makes really good, really intelligent runs and he's always a pain for defenders because he's always playing on the last shoulder trying to get in behind and trying to cause trouble.
"At the same time he can do things in front of you and link up play, play as a No.10 if you want. He's a really, really high quality player and that sticks out for me.
"There's been a maturity and evolution in his game where he can do all these different things. He played different roles for Manchester City in many positions over the years, he goes to England plays even a bit of a different role over there at times.
"He's incredibly versatile but it goes to show a high quality player when they mature, their game improves on so many different levels and he can hurt you in so many different ways.
"He scores goals, he can face you up, he runs in behind. That's why he's so valuable. Someone like Gareth Southgate swears by him and loves having him in his team no matter what because he knows he can use him in big games.
"He scores big goals. He's an incredibly talented player, a mature player and someone who is going to bring high quality to any team."
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