Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea after he was declared as ‘unwanted’ by manager Enzo Maresca.
Sterling has played for four of the classic ‘top six’ teams in the Premier League winning trophy after trophy along the way.
He has also been one of England’s best players over the past 10 years, under the likes of Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate, scoring 20 goals in 82 international appearances.
Sterling joined Arsenal on loan in order to help the Gunners with some extra depth at the winger position. Something that they have needed this season due to the long-term injury to star attacker Bukayo Saka.
Emerging at Liverpool before major successes at Man City
Raheem Sterling began his y0uth career at Championship side Queen’s Park Rangers, before he signed for Liverpool’s youth team in 2010.
It didn’t take long for the Jamaican-born winger to make an impact at Anfield, as he made his professional debut for the Reds in March 2012, aged just 17, against Wigan Athletic, making him the third-youngest player to play for Liverpool.
He made two more appearances in the 2011/12 season, as a substitute. The following season, still aged 17 for the first half of the year, Sterling made 24 Premier League appearances, breaking out into the first team at Anfield. He scored two goals and provided two assists.
His performances led to him making his England debut in November 2012, starting in a friendly against Sweden…aged 17.
Sterling then signed a new contract at Liverpool, and his performances just kept improving as the following year, he made 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring 11 goals and providing eight assists. The following season was his last year with the club, in which he scored seven goals in 35 Premier League games, helping the Reds to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
After that, Sterling rejected a new deal at Anfield, instead opting to make a move for an initial fee of £44m to Manchester City aged 21.
In his first season at City, Sterling scored 11 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions, helping City to a Champions League finish in the Premier League, and a League Cup title.
In the 2016/17 season, the winger continued his good form for City, with 10 goals and 15 assists ahead of the 2017/18 season, which crowned Sterling as one of the best English players in the world.
He scored 23 goals and contributed 13 assists in 46 games for City, in what was his first Premier League title-winning season. He posted similar numbers the following year, as City beat out Sterling’s former side Liverpool to the league title by just one point.
In the 2018/19 season, Sterling racked up his best goal scoring season in football, by netting 31 times in all competitions for City.
The England international then spent two more years at the Etihad, before he eventually left after winning four Premier League titles, five League Cups and an FA Cup.
Sterling’s move to Chelsea and loan deal with Arsenal
After seven years, and over 200 Premier League appearances for City, Sterling moved to Chelsea in July 2022 for a fee of £47.5m on a five-year-contract for the Blues.
Under now-West Ham manager Graham Potter, Sterling scored nine goals and four assists in 38 appearances for Chelsea. His first season at Chelsea also saw the winger head to Qatar to play in the 2022 World Cup, his third edition of the tournament for England.
In his second season with Chelsea, under Mauricio Pochettino, Sterling made 43 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, scoring 10 goals and eight assists. He was then told by new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca the next summer that he was no longer wanted.
Following this, Sterling moved to London rivals Arsenal on a loan move, and is set to stay at the Emirates for the remainder of the season. It is unclear as to what his future will hold after leaving Arsenal.