The 31-year-old enjoyed success at Manchester City after joining them from Liverpool in 2015, where he won four Premier League titles, five League Cups and the FA Cup. His subsequent move to Chelsea in 2022 coincided with a steep decline in his form.
His loan at Arsenal last season did not result in a permanent move despite being supported by Mikel Arteta – who had worked with him at City. Sterling was without a team this season until February, when he had a short spell in the Eredivisie.
He also won 82 caps for England and played at three World Cup finals. His last game for England was at the 2022 World Cup. He won both individual player-of-the-season awards in 2019.
A source close to Sterling said that the strain of the abrupt end to his top-level playing career had taken a toll on his well-being.
Notwithstanding the outcome of the legal process, Sterling now has to find a new club. He will be 32 in December and has made 36 senior appearances in total in the last two seasons at Arsenal and then at Feyenoord. He has worked with his personal trainer to stay fit, but has now gone two seasons without a conventional squad pre-season. Enzo Maresca cut Sterling immediately upon his arrival at Chelsea in the summer of 2024.
His deal to Arsenal the following summer meant Chelsea picked up about £100,000 of his £300,000-a-week wages. Sterling gave up a similar amount, and Arsenal paid the balance.
Once one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, Sterling will be expected to agree a performance-related deal, wherever he goes next. His departure from Chelsea was prolonged, with the player reluctant to move overseas. He might even have been able to go on loan to Bayern Munich at the end of the window last summer, but chose not to do so. As a result he did not play a competitive game until after Christmas and was training on his own at Cobham at times when the first-team squad were not in for their own training.