
Chelsea
Premier League • England
Chelsea urged to bank hefty Raheem Sterling loan fee amid Crystal Palace interest

Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling
Football finance expert Stefan Borson has told Chelsea that receiving £8million in order to send Raheem Sterling on loan to Crystal Palace would be “worth doing” given they have “no use” for him.
Sterling has essentially been banished from the Chelsea squad by Enzo Maresca. The winger is one of a number of first-team players not currently training with the squad, after the new manager stated he will “have no minutes here”.
The winger moved to Stamford Bridge just two years ago, and has been a bright spot where others haven’t.
In 2022/23 – his first campaign – his six Premier League goals were second only to Kai Havertz’s seven in the Blues squad, and Sterling also netted three Champions League goals, which was the highest tally for the Blues that season.
Last term, only Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson scored more than Sterling’s eight goals in all competitions for Chelsea.
But Maresca has been ruthless in regards to a few players, and the winger will either be shown the door this season, or will essentially be watching from home.
Crystal Palace seem to be the side with the most genuine interest in taking him on board, but his high wages coupled with the fact he was a near-£50million transfer two years ago, paying a fee and his contract seems unlikely.
Football finance expert Borson states that Palace would not pay big money, but what they could part with would be worth it for Chelsea to accept.
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Chelsea told to accept £8m loan fee
“We know for a fact a club like Crystal Palace are not going to pay more than about £100,000 a week for Raheem Sterling,” Borson told Football Insider.
“Maybe they will pay a small loan fee on top. It’s hard to believe they will pay more than £8million a season, including his wages.
“That would mean a huge subsidy would be required from Chelsea to get him off the books.
“That sounds like a bad situation for Chelsea, but at the end of the day, even £8million to offset their costs for a player they have no use for would be worth doing.”
Indeed, Borson explains how Sterling costs Chelsea more than what they could make from him, so at least it’s worth getting him out for a short period so they’re not splashing a huge sum on a player they are not using.
Sterling costs Chelsea a lot
“His costs on the books are obviously very substantial due to his £325,000-a-week wages on top of the fact that you then have to pay his national insurance and pension,” Borson said.
“That seems to be around about 15 per cent on top from Chelsea’s historic accounts.
“You are talking about a player who on an annual basis before amortisation costs on the balance sheet, which is about £10million, costs them something like £20million a year.
“They don’t want him and have said he’s got no place in the squad, so really it’s all about damage limitation for Chelsea now on that player in particular.”
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