Raheem Sterling felt his position at Manchester City had become untenable. He had been there seven years, enjoying remarkable success, but had been left “fuming, raging” by the sense that the sacrifices he had made had not been respected. “Everyone wants to feel wanted,” he said. “Football is no different.” And so he decided to leave.
He was 27 and an England regular. This was a big move for him. He had won four league titles at City, but this was a potentially career-defining move. He had been part of Brendan Rodgers’ glorious but doomed title charge at Liverpool. He had been an integral component in the Pep Guardiola machine. Where had similar allure? Where could he spend his notional peak that would not seem anticlimactic? He opted for Chelsea, who had won the Champions League a year earlier under Thomas Tuchel.
