Pundit warns Chelsea man amid Prem giant links as he names two stars ‘better than’ him
Darren Bent has responded to Arsenal links to Raheem Sterling, as he declared two stars are “better than” the Chelsea attacker currently.
A £47.5million move to Chelsea for Sterling from Manchester City in the summer was unexpected. Indeed, the forward had won four Premier League titles with the Citizens in his seven seasons at the club.
In that time, he was directly involved in 226 goals in 339 games. His role had hardly diminished either – Sterling played 30 Premier League games last season, scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists.
Despite that, he decided the move to Stamford Bridge was right for him. He might now be regretting that decision, as neither he nor Chelsea have been particularly effective this season.
In 18 Premier League games, Sterling has scored four times and assisted twice – four of those contributions coming in his first five games, meaning things have dried up of late.
That’s little surprise given the poor form of the entire side. Indeed, Chelsea – despite a spend of more than £500million in the last two transfer windows – started this weekend’s round of fixtures in 10th place.
Reports of another big move for Sterling have surfaced amid this poor run in West London. Indeed, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is reportedly a ‘huge fan’ of the forward, and could move to sign him in the summer.
However, a move away from the Blues could be tough. Indeed, Sterling’s agent has recently revealed he is “looking forward to building upon” his previous successes while at Chelsea.
Bent sends warning amid Arsenal, Sterling links
That could put an end to the Gunners’ interest in Sterling before they’ve even had a chance to act on it.
That’s something former Premier League striker Bent thinks should happen anyway. Indeed, the pundit has revealed he feels Arsenal would be taking a step backwards if they were to land the Chelsea star.
“Arsenal’s forwards are flying. Sterling doesn’t make Arsenal stronger right now, Arsenal’s current front-three are playing better than Sterling,” he said on talkSPORT.
” [Gabriel] Martinelli and [Bukayo] Saka are playing really well, better than Sterling. So why would you change that?”
Hard to argue with effectiveness
Bent makes a compelling case as to why Sterling might not be the best fit for Arsenal. Indeed, he’s been involved in just six goals all season.
Saka has scored 10 goals and provided nine assists and Martinelli has scored 11 goals along with two assists. Gabriel Jesus and his understudy Eddie Nketiah have also been effective in going forwards.
The former scored five goals and provided six assists before suffering an injury and the latter has scored nine goals and provided one assist.
Indeed, each of those players has been more effective than Sterling. Were he to be implemented into the Gunners’ system, perhaps he would play better.
However, Arteta’s side would likely have to spend a decent sum for that to happen. That would also take away from the opportunities of their current stars, so the move doesn’t seem worth it.
