Raheem Sterling rejected huge £650k-a-week transfer in favour of joining Arsenal (original) (raw)

Raheem Sterling has left Chelsea to join Premier League rivals Arsenal on loan for the season - and it can now be revealed that the forward rejected a huge transfer offer from Saudi Arabia

Raheem Sterling left Chelsea to join Arsenal on loan

Raheem Sterling rejected a stunning £650,000-a-week offer from Saudi Arabia to join Arsenal on loan from Chelsea.

The incredible package for the England winger, 29, would have more than doubled his current £300,000-a-week salary. But Sterling held out for a move to Arsenal and placed helping the Gunners to become champions over cash. He also retains his own, long-term ambitions to make it back into the Three Lions fold for the 2026 World Cup.

Sterling’s lawyers and representatives thrashed out the dramatic late loan move across the capital on Friday night. He now becomes a key member of the Mikel Arteta squad expected to challenge yet again for the Premier League title.

Mirror Football can now reveal he rejected the Saudi interest two days before talks had even been opened between Chelsea and Arsenal. Events began to escalate at the start of last week - 10 days after new Blues boss Enzo Maresca had made it clear, publicly and privately, that Sterling would never play for the club again.

It left Chelsea with the prospect of having to meet his £27million-a-year wages over the next three years while he trained alone. It also represented a massive U-turn from Maresca who played him in every game of the club’s pre-season tour this summer and had said: “For sure he is one of our important players… the important thing is we give him minutes and he is doing well.”

The club had placed Sterling front and centre for a new sleeve sponsorship alongside Millie Bright and captain Enzo Fernandez. A piece on their website had praised his “leadership role” and was headlined: ‘Raheem Sterling Interview: A positive influence and setting standards.”

After their U-turn, Sterling made it clear in showdown talks that the onus would be on Chelsea to meet the cost of the remaining three years of his £70million contract or find him another club.

Sterling was offered to Saudi Arabia clubs before opting to remain in the Premier League (

Image:

Getty Images)

Blues bosses spent the subsequent few days sounding out clubs in a bid to find one that could meet the financial package they’d excitedly described as a “bargain” when Sterling arrived from City in 2022. Having been stripped of his shirt number, handed a packed lunch and told to train away from the squad, Sterling left it to Chelsea to solve the conundrum they’d created.

The interest from Saudi club - which remains unnamed - was put to him by Chelsea on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. But there are suggestions that the club had courted Middle East interest long before then. Nonetheless, Sterling dug his heels in and refused to be forced into a move that would have been perceived as him giving up on his England career.

Having helped City to four Premier League titles, five League Cups, the FA Cup and the Champions League - and also helping England to the final of the 2020 European Championship - Sterling retains his hunger and is determined to prove his worth in north London. He’d been entering his third season under his fifth manager at volatile Chelsea where around 40 players had been signed in barely two years.

LONDON COLNEY, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Arsenal Sporting Director Edu Gaspar with new signing Raheem Sterling at Sobha Realty Training Centre on August 30, 2024 in London Colney, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

He is now set to become the latest in a number of top players, unwanted by the Blues, who have gone on to show their continued class elsewhere. Midfielders Kai Havertz and Jorginho have both helped Arsenal challenge for the title since leaving the Blues.

Another midfielder, Matteo Kovacic, helped Pep Guardiola’s City to last season’s title. In the opening game of this season, Kovacic waltzed past Chelsea’s £225million reshaped midfield to score the winner against his former club.

Like those players, Sterling remains ambitious and hungry. Now he will enjoy the stability that could yet result in a positive next chapter of his career.

Join our new WhatsApp communityand receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more