Boehly must ensure "struggling" flop never wears the Chelsea shirt again

Chelsea have a lot of work to do this summer.

There’s no question Stamford Bridge has enjoyed progress under Enzo Maresca‘s tactical guidance this season, but the last few months have exposed holes in the Blues squad.

This is a young team. Todd Boehly’s scattergun spending approach hasn’t quite been streamlined yet but there have been signs of refined focus over the past year.

The issue is that Cole Palmer is currently out of sorts, and Chelsea’s frontline is suffering as a result.

The recruitment team are going to be called into play, no doubt, but Chelsea need to rid the team of several pieces of deadwood too.

Who Chelsea need to sell this summer

Sadly, it hasn’t worked out. In 2023, Chelsea signed Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £52m, but injuries and a struggle to identify his best position have left the Frenchman with only six starts and three goals in the Premier League this term.

Bayern Munich were reportedly interested in completing a move in January, but it didn’t come to fruition. Nkunku may well be sold at the end of the season, with Maresca backed to put more of his own flair on the team.

Maresca named Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka to be among the most probable permanent departures before the winter market. Chilwell did leave, but only on loan to Crystal Palace. Expect both to be gone next term.

Then of course, the goalkeeping department requires something of an overhaul, with both Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen enduring something of an error-stricken crisis this season.

Kepa Arrizabalaga is producing solid stuff out on loan with Bournemouth, but reports from February have suggested Chelsea have compiled a four-man shortlist ahead of the off-season and will act.

It’s clear the Blues need a new centre-forward to jockey with Nicolas Jackson. Nkunku might be off, while Joao Felix has only scored once in eight games on loan at Milan, and after failing to hit the ground running in London, it’s unlikely he will feature prominently next year.

Truthfully, this is a squad in transition and will need more facework if the loftiest heights are to be reached. There’s a player above all the aforementioned who must be cut from the books this summer, and like Felix, he’s not even a part of Maresca’s set-up right now.

Not just Nkunku: Chelsea’s forgotten man is on borrowed time

Nkunku has flattered to deceive, sure, but he’s still got the potential to spark his career back to life at the highest level, perhaps back in the Bundesliga with Bayern.

However, the same can’t be said for Raheem Sterling, whose regression over the past several years has reached its nadir at the Emirates with Arsenal.

Chelsea signed him from Manchester City in a deal worth £47.5m in the summer of 2022, and though Sterling impressed in flashes, Maresca’s arrival spelt the end of his west London journey.

Last season, under Mauricio Pochettino, Sterling served an important role, indeed scoring eight times from only 22 starts in the Premier League. But the cracks were starting to show, the wear and tear from an unrelenting career beginning to catch up with him.

He was severed from the first-team reckoning, with the club’s Italian head coach making it clear he wanted a different profile of winger. Arsenal handed him a lifeline, bringing him in on loan late in the day on summer’s transfer deadline day. You’re about to see the best of me, he cried. That hasn’t been the case.

It’s not worked out at Arsenal, with his failure to nail down a starting berth in spite of the Gunners’ injury crisis rather damning.

Reporter Ed Aarons has noted that he’s “struggling” and it’s difficult to see a positive way out for Sterling at either London club.

Limited to just six starts across the Premier League and Champions League, the five-time league winner has registered just one assist. He hasn’t scored. Moreover, Sterling is averaging only 1.5 duels and 0.7 dribbles per game in the top flight, underscoring his athletic depletion.

Raheem Sterling – Last 8 Seasons (PL)
Season	Club	Apps	Goals	Assists
24/25	Arsenal	12	0	1
23/24	Chelsea	31	8	4
22/23	Chelsea	28	6	3
21/22	Man City	30	13	5
20/21	Man City	31	10	7
19/20	Man City	33	20	1
18/19	Man City	34	17	9
17/18	Man City	33	18	11
Stats via Transfermarkt

His decline has been a gradual thing. Growth and regression are not linear in football, and Sterling has played an almighty amount of football even at 30 years old.

Indeed, having played 391 Premier League matches, Sterling is the fourth-highest active appearance holder in the division, behind James Milner, Ashley Young and James Ward-Prowse.

He will return to Chelsea at the end of the season and is contracted until 2027. His value is plummeting – Transfermarkt record the England international is presently worth just £19m – but given he pockets £350k per week, he must be sold for the greater good of the club.

If Nkunku is sold this summer, Chelsea will need to invest in more depth and quality across the frontline, doubly so if Sterling is freed from the books.

However, such things need to happen. Chelsea are at a critical juncture and must act with incision – luckily, say one thing for Boehly, he’s never been without ambition.