{"id":135973,"date":"2025-09-06T01:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T01:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/135973\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T01:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T01:28:09","slug":"raheem-sterling-fronts-new-three-man-chelsea-bomb-squad-as-325k-a-week-star-sets-stance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/135973\/","title":{"rendered":"Raheem Sterling fronts new three-man Chelsea &#8216;bomb squad&#8217; as \u00a3325k-a-week star sets stance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea couldn&#8217;t find a buyer for Raheem Sterling before the summer transfer window closed on Monday, leaving the ex-Liverpool and Manchester City star to continue his exile<\/p>\n<p>22:33, 05 Sep 2025Updated 22:35, 05 Sep 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_GettyImages-2209812457.jpg\" alt=\"LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - APRIL 5: Raheem Sterling of Arsenal running during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Arsenal FC at Goodison Park on April 5, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar Via Getty Images)\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Raheem Sterling spent last season on loan at Arsenal(Image: Ed Sykes\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar Via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Raheem Sterling is fronting a new three-man &#8216;bomb squad&#8217; at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/chelsea-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Chelsea<\/a>, who continue to pay him \u00a3325,000 per week amid his exile. Sterling, 30, has been cast aside by Blues boss <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/enzo-maresca\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Enzo Maresca<\/a>, who made it clear that he wasn&#8217;t part of his plans at Stamford Bridge <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/chelsea-raheem-sterling-enzo-maresca-33510503\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"more than a year agoLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">more than a year ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The experienced forward was rescued from the cold by <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/arsenal-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arsenal<\/a>, who signed him on loan for the duration of last season. After a disappointing spell, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/raheem-sterling-transfer-chelsea-fulham-35803774\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Arsenal didn&#039;t elect to sign Sterling permanentlyLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arsenal didn&#8217;t elect to sign Sterling permanently<\/a>, forcing him to go back across London, where he isn&#8217;t wanted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">His situation didn&#8217;t change over the summer; being omitted from Maresca&#8217;s squad for the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/fifa-club-world-cup\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Club World Cup<\/a> and not featuring in their pre-season friendlies. Instead, Sterling has been training away from Chelsea&#8217;s first team in what&#8217;s become known as their &#8216;bomb squad&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Most of unwanted the Blues&#8217; unwanted stars managed to secure moves away before the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/summer-transfer-window\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">summer transfer window<\/a> closed on Monday. But Sterling, centre-back Axel Disasi and striker David Datro Fofana are still on the books.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Stripped of luxury, the bomb squad have their own changing room, are made to use a separate toilet and can&#8217;t eat with first-team players. But Sterling and his team-mates are being paid handsomely to put up with the isolation.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/chelsea-man-utd-alejandro-garnacho-35853790\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"35853790\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alejandro Garnacho&#8217;s six-word response after first Chelsea training session says it all<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/chelsea-player-vomit-pitch-brazil-35853587\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"35853587\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chelsea star vomits on pitch after clashing with Arsenal ace on international duty<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">With two years left on his \u00a3325,000-a-week contract, as per <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/c62l5qz9jwgo\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"BBC SportLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BBC Sport<\/a>, the 82-time <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/england-football-team\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">England<\/a> international is due a further \u00a330million in wages from the Blues. German side <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bayer-leverkusen\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bayer Leverkusen<\/a> and Italian giants <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/juventus-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Juventus<\/a> were both contacted by Stamford Bridge chiefs this summer, as were London clubs such as <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/fulham-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fulham<\/a>, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/crystal-palace-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Crystal Palace<\/a> and <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/west-ham-united-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">West Ham<\/a>. But nothing materialised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The 30-year-old moved his family down to London when he joined Chelsea from <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/manchester-city-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Manchester City<\/a> for \u00a347.5m in 2022 and he&#8217;s reluctant to uproot them for the second time in three years. His son, Thiago, is currently in Arsenal&#8217;s academy, hoping to follow in his dad&#8217;s footsteps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sterling&#8217;s arrival was supposed to be a statement of intent from the club&#8217;s new ownership but he&#8217;s instead become a symbol of their scattergun approach to recruitment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Which club should sign Raheem Sterling? Let us know your pick in the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/raheem-sterling-chelsea-bomb-squad-35858740#comments-section\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"comments sectionLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">comments section<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_Axel-Disasi-Instagram.jpg\" alt=\"Axel Disasi Instagram\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Chelsea&#8217;s bomb squad have their own changing room(Image: Instagram\/@axel_disasi)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/michael-owen\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Michael Owen<\/a> recently spoke about Sterling&#8217;s situation and empathised with him. &#8220;He&#8217;s on big wages, and he didn&#8217;t quite grasp his chance at Arsenal. He&#8217;s clearly surplus to requirements at Chelsea,&#8221; Owen posted on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Sadly, the only way for him now is probably down to a Crystal Palace, West Ham, that type of club. But only if he&#8217;s happy to take a big wage cut, which only he can answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;The big question will be the wages. Some might say, &#8216;Well, you&#8217;re rich enough already&#8217; &#8211; but would you throw away \u00a3200,000-a-week to move to a lesser club, even if it means playing more?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/KLOUWbmSQd86jj7ZbbVOHa\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Join our new WhatsApp communityLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Join our new WhatsApp community<\/a> and 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&#8217;t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you&#8217;re curious, you can read our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Privacy Notice.Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package<\/p>\n<p>This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/affiliates\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Learn more<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753375160_403_0_Sky-Factbox.jpg\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a343<\/p>\n<p>\u00a335<\/p>\n<p>Sky<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=11005&amp;awinaffid=213635&amp;platform=dl&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fdeals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Get the deal here<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sky has slashed the price of its <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=11005&amp;awinaffid=213635&amp;platform=dl&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fdeals\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Essential TV and Sky Sports<\/a> bundle ahead of the 2025\/26 season, saving members \u00a3192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea couldn&#8217;t find a buyer for Raheem Sterling before the summer transfer window closed on Monday, leaving the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1216,13927,25321,403,99],"class_list":["post-135973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-chelsea-fc","tag-chelsea-transfer-news","tag-raheem-sterling","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}