Chelsea face Raheem Sterling ‘disaster’ amid Cole Palmer injury update

A football finance expert has revealed the huge sums of money Chelsea are losing after failing to offload Raheem Sterling in the summer, while Enzo Maresca has detailed how long he expects Cole Palmer to be out for.

Sterling spent last season on loan at Arsenal but did little to get his career back on track, finishing the campaign with just one goal in 28 appearances. The winger returned to Stamford Bridge over the summer but was told he would not be in Maresca’s plans for the 2025-26 season.

Sterling was the subject of interest from Fulham and West Ham United, as well as clubs in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

However, no transfer materialised. Fulham were put off by Sterling’s large wage demands while West Ham’s interest never reached an advanced stage.

The forward rejected the opportunity to join clubs in Turkey or Saudi Arabia as he wanted to stay in London to be close to his family.

Sterling’s career has since hit a new low as he has been forced to train with Chelsea’s reserves. Incredibly, Maresca revealed recently that he ‘hasn’t seen’ Sterling or Axel Disasi this term as they ‘train at a different time’ to his squad.

Sterling’s contract runs until June 2027 and is worth a reported £325,000 a week – colossal money for a player not even in the first-team picture.

Speaking to TBR, finance reporter Adam Williams labelled the Sterling saga a ‘disaster’ for Chelsea and revealed it could end up costing the club a whopping £40m.

“No one is winning in the Sterling situation. Chelsea are losing £325,000 every week, giving that money to a player who isn’t in their plans,” he said.

“That’s nearly £17m per year. On top of that, there’s National Insurance and so on, so it’s probably actually closer to £20m annually. Over two years remaining on his deal, that’s £40m.

“You also have the issues with the PFA now looking at the situation, which clearly isn’t great for PR. That said, Clearlake are obviously very thick-skinned and they aren’t going to let anything like that get to them personally.

“As it stands, the PFA don’t really have the means to launch any kind of action anyway. They are more just leaning on the club. That might change when the implications of the Lassana Diarra legal case fully materialise, but that’s a story for another time.

“Sterling could compromise on his wages and go somewhere, true, but he has a contract that the club are legally obliged to honour. He’s acting in his own interests, and why shouldn’t he? We can talk about what that says about his ambition and so on, but that’s his prerogative.

“I don’t think there is any good guy or bad guy in this scenario; it’s two parties operating in their own self-interest. Strategically, however, I think this is a disaster for Chelsea. If I’m an agent, would I advise my client to go to Chelsea? No chance. This keeps happening.

“Yes, you might get a bigger salary there than you might elsewhere, although the deals they give players are heavily-incentivised so you’re not as covered as you might be at another team, but it could also massively stall your career.

“If Chelsea get a reputation as a club that treat players as expendable, abstract nodes of wealth on a balance sheet, it’s not going to serve them well in the future. And the implications of that are worth way more than £40m.”

DIVE DEEPER 😬 ‘Unsatisfied’ Cole Palmer misses Chelsea training as insider reveals Blues fallout

Cole Palmer to miss 2-3 weeks – Enzo Maresca

While Sterling’s £47.5m switch to Chelsea has not worked out at all, Palmer has established himself as their talisman.

But the playmaker has been dealing with a groin issue in recent months. He asked to play in the recent 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, despite tests showing he was not 100 per cent fit, only to be taken off with a groin problem 21 minutes in.

Ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon, Maresca was asked about Palmer’s fitness. He replied: “We decided to protect a little bit Cole in terms of his injuries not getting worse.

“We decided to rest him for the next two or three weeks before the international break to see if he can recover 100 per cent and be fully fit from the international break.

“I don’t think he needs surgery. It’s a matter of managing his pain in his groin, with the amount of games, it is something that can happen.”

Maresca added: “We said that with Cole we are a better team but we need to play games without Cole. We are going to play with 11 players, for sure, and we will find a different solution.

“[Facundo] Buonanotte can play in that position. But it depends a little bit on the game, the other team and how they defend. It depends.”

Chelsea news: January move ON; Garnacho truth

Meanwhile, Chelsea are plotting a world-class signing in January.

One summer move that was certainly controversial among the Chelsea fanbase was the arrival of Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United.

The six real reasons United sold the winger have been revealed.

QUIZ: Test yourself on Cole Palmer!