Emmanuel Petit names Chelsea's 'most disappointing signing' of the season

Former Chelsea star Emmanuel Petit believes Raheem Sterling has been the club’s ‘most disappointing signing’ of the season.

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However, the former midfielder admitted that he is still a big fan of the forward and has partly blamed his lack of form on the toxicity that owner Todd Boehly has brought to Stamford Bridge.

After seven highly successful seasons at Manchester City, Sterling joined Chelsea last summer for around £50million and was heralded as a great, experienced signing who could be the potent goalscorer that the Blues were sorely missing.

After all, the 27-year-old had scored 131 goals and made 95 assists in his City career, winning four Premier League titles and six domestic cups with them.

However, he has been unable to replicate this form in west London, with nine goals and four assists in 37 games so far this season, though this still makes him Chelsea’s joint top scorer for the campaign alongside Kai Havertz.

Thanks to Boehly’s record-breaking £600m spending spree, there is a total lack of cohesion within the club’s over-bloated squad, with nearly all of the 16 new signings struggling under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now Frank Lampard.

But while many of these players were largely unknown quantities, Sterling came with a fantastic reputation and it is perhaps for that reason that Petit has selected Sterling as his most disappointing signing ahead of the likes of Marc Cucurella, Mykhailo Mudryk, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

‘Raheem Sterling is the Chelsea signing that has disappointed me the most. I don’t want to be too harsh on him and it’s hard to point fingers too much at players because it’s been a mess for at least a year,’ Petit told Genting Casino.

‘Since [Roman] Abramovich left the club there has been no serenity on and off the pitch. Since Todd Boehly has come in, he’s been splashing money on new players and fires two managers in a row.

‘So I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for the players. But in the meantime, when you play for clubs like Chelsea there are big expectations and you have to raise your level mentally and physically. Some players have been very disappointing with the way they play and their attitude on the pitch sometimes.

‘You have to have mental strength. I understand the difficulty of the situation, but this is not an excuse. At the top level you’re under pressure all the time, you have to play every single game like it’s the last of your life. I know it’s hard but they should understand that. 

‘For me Sterling stands out as the most disappointing. I’m a big fan of the player and person, but I have been disappointed with him.’

A never ever-present for England over the past decade, Sterling was left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest squad, with the Three Lions manager saying the player has been struggling hamstring injury in recent weeks.

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