[James Olley]
Chelsea will effectively be paying Sterling in the region of £10m to play for Arsenal.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41111930/chelsea-transfer-plan-wild-spending-spree-wise-strategy
In a sense, the two ends of Raheem Sterling’s loan move from Chelsea to Arsenal in the final hours of last week’s transfer deadline day sum up the respective states of both clubs.
During a maelstrom of late activity at the end of August, the Blues were scrambling to find a home for the 29-year-old, who was making £325,000 a week on the fringes of the first-team squad. Days before the loss to Man City, Maresca told Sterling that he was not a key part of his plans. Sterling, who sources say was shocked by the decision given his prominent role in preseason, reacted by asking for a permanent move to kick-start his career.
That was Chelsea’s preference, too, but as time wore on, it became apparent Sterling’s high wage was prohibitive to any transfer, especially given he had three years left on that deal.
Sources have told ESPN that Chelsea called a number of clubs to gauge their interest in Sterling. Interest from teams in the Saudi Pro League — the Blues’ ideal destination for Sterling — was quickly rebuffed by the England international, according to sources. In the final hours of the window, the Stamford Bridge outfit made it known to Arsenal that not only would they accept a loan, they would acquiesce to a relatively small contribution to his salary package.
The Gunners, settled and relatively content with their summer business — having added €45m defender Riccardo Calafiori and €32.5m midfielder Mikel Merino, while making goalkeeper David Raya’s loan move from Brentford permanent — but open to bolstering manager Mikel Arteta’s attacking options, decided it was too good of an opportunity to miss. The final deal with Chelsea, no loan fee and a requirement to pay less than half of Sterling’s wages, saw them land a player with whom Arteta had developed a close working relationship during three years together at Manchester City.
The end result means that over the course of the season-long loan, Chelsea will effectively be paying Sterling in the region of £10m to play for Arsenal.