Raheem Sterling hopes to replicate the role Steven Gerrard played in his career with Chelsea youngsters following his summer transfer from Manchester City. The 27-year-old completed a £47.5 million move in July to join Thomas Tuchel's side from the Premier League champions, with the Blues boss identifying the forward as a priority to improve the team.
Sterling has already shown that he offers something different to Tuchel's other options and, against Everton, showed the ability to beat a defender that Chelsea have perhaps lacked over the last 12 months, despite the volume of players they have in the position.
The four-time Premier League winner, who has also landed an FA Cup trophy and five EFL Cup titles, brings a wealth of experience to the side, and it seems inevitable that he will take a leadership role in the squad. The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi have already praised the influence of the England star, and it appears to be a responsibility that Sterling takes seriously.
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The former QPR academy player knows how much he benefitted from Steven Gerrard when breaking through at Liverpool and plans to make his teammates feel as comfortable.
Sterling said: "It's just one of my traits where I always, it doesn't matter how old you are, I think it's good to try and nurture younger people whatever profession it is. You don't want a hostile environment for them to come in. You want one where they feel they can flourish. When I was young, I had Steven Gerrard around to look up to as an example, I went to the national team, and he had his arm around me. It makes you a lot more relaxed in the camp so you can do your best. That's what I try to do: have jokes and laugh but at the same time make sure people get the work done and feeling comfortable."
Sterling has quickly slotted into the Blues' starting XI and feels that the transfer is one that was tailormade for him. While the former Liverpool ace acknowledged pre-season showed some inconsistency having joined up with the team in the USA, he's been impressed with what he has seen on Cobham's training pitches.
He said: "With the few other options I had, this one was more tailormade for my personal goals. For my family, it makes a lot of sense, and with the direction the club is going in. If you look at Chelsea in the last couple of years, I think it's four of five finals they've been in. It's a team that is competing and is only going to get better. So for me, with the new ownership and takeover, it made a lot of sense.
"Pre-season was an up and down in terms of results and what the manager wanted. Pre-season is not real, but we tried to build on that, and you can see from the short time when we came back to Cobham the energy and the unity of the team. It's probably one you always hear, but you can really feel that going into games, and I'm really optimistic being here, and being in the building and seeing how the guys work and seeing how passionate the manager is."
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