Chelsea need to sell their £64m problem who Boehly dubbed “world-class”

One thing Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have tried to do since taking over Chelsea is lower their wage bill, bringing in younger talents before they hit their prime, and making their pay structure more incentive-based, to reward the top performers.

The club’s current highest earner is the club captain, Reece James, who is earning £250k-per-week, coming through the academy ranks, and being valued as one of the Blues’ best players when he is fit. However, people could argue he isn’t currently justifying that wage, as he is often out with injury issues.

One name that stands out in Chelsea’s top ten earners, is Raheem Sterling. Despite being out on loan with Arsenal this season, he still ranks as the seventh highest earner at the club, and next season, when he returns, he would be back to the top earner, on a whopping £325k-per-week.

Raheem Sterling’s time at Chelsea

When Chelsea signed Sterling for £47.5m from Manchester City back in 2022, Boehly said Sterling was a “world-class” talent, who was also a “serial winner” and he couldn’t wait to have him playing at Stamford Bridge.

But things didn’t turn out that way, as the winger struggled to live up to the expectations set for him, not providing the same output as he did at City, and not providing enough overall quality elsewhere to make up for that lack of goals and assists.

In his 81 appearances for the club, the Englishman has scored 19 goals and provided 12 assists, totalling 5,326 minutes. This output wasn’t enough to justify his mega salary and Enzo Maresca made it clear in pre-season that other wingers would be ahead of Sterling in the pecking order, leading to his loan move to Arsenal this summer.

However, The Blues will still have an expensive problem to deal with next summer, a £64.4m problem to be exact combining his £47.5 purchase fee and £16.9m-per year-wages, as they look to offload the 29-year-old on a permanent basis.

How Chelsea’s wingers compare to Sterling

The two wide players for Chelsea with the most appearances so far this term are Noni Madueke and summer signing, Pedro Neto.

The former has made 16 appearances, scoring six goals and providing two assists, whilst Neto has also made 16 appearances, scoring three times and providing three assists.

Madueke has thrived this season, ranking highest in seven of the 11 metrics measured above, providing the most progressive actions, the highest shot volume, and the most output per 90 (goals + assists).

Neto, on the other hand, whilst he hasn’t added the same level of output as Madueke, has added a new creative level to this Chelsea side, producing the most xAG (expected assisted goals), playing the most key passes per 90, and generating the most shot-creating actions per 90.

Chelsea have been much better off this campaign without Sterling in the side, and therefore the challenge will come next summer as they look to offload the 29-year-old on such high wages, which could prove to be the biggest stumbling block. Either way, they must find a way to lose him permanently.