Paul Merson sends warning to Chelsea over Raheem Sterling transfer

Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling will not solve Chelsea’s goalscoring issues, according to former England and Arsenal star Paul Merson.

The Blues have expressed interest in signing Sterling as new owner Todd Boehly prepares to hand Thomas Tuchel a £200m transfer kitty for the summer.

Sterling has scored 131 goals in 339 appearances for Man City, helping Pep Guardiola’s side win four Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and the FA Cup. He also has 19 goals for England and was brilliant during their run to the Euro 2020 final.

But Merson doubts Sterling’s style of football is suited to Chelsea and has warned Blues boss Tuchel he is ‘stuck with’ club-record signing Romelu Lukaku.

Sterling, who spent four years at Liverpool before joining Manchester City, has also attracted interest from Arsenal and Tottenham but would reportedly prefer to join Chelsea than either of the north London rivals.

‘Chelsea need a big summer of signings and they might not get that,’ Merson told the Daily Star.

‘They need at least a couple of defenders because Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are leaving, and they might not be the only ones leaving either.

‘But they are stuck with Romelu Lukaku. They won’t be able to sell him without making a loss, and who could they get to replace him? Top-class centre forwards are scarce.

‘They might go for Raheem Sterling but he plays the Manchester City way. I don’t think Raheem Sterling scores 20 goals a season for Chelsea.

‘He likes to arrive late in the box at the far post for a tap-in. There’s an art to that. But I don’t see that ball getting whipped across the box like that too often at Chelsea, so where does he get his goals from?’

Sterling came off the bench to help Manchester City overcome a 2-0 deficit against Aston Villa on the final day of the season and clinch the Premier League title.

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City finished one point above title rivals Liverpool and 19 points ahead of third-placed Chelsea, who endured an underwhelming domestic season, losing in both cup finals and falling short in Europe.

‘I still don’t think Thomas Tuchel knows his best line-up if I’m being honest,’ Merson added. ‘He has too many options but not enough of his forwards have done the business this season.

‘There’s no consistency at Chelsea. That doesn’t help either because you can’t build up an understanding with the players around you.

‘That’s Lukaku’s problem as well. Granted, I don’t think he works hard enough. But he hasn’t had the same players around him week in week out either.

‘They chop and change. The mentality has to change as well because when they are on it, they are no different to Manchester City and Liverpool.

‘They did better against the top six clubs than Liverpool this season. And Liverpool couldn’t beat them in two cup finals.

‘But Liverpool put the lesser teams away, and Chelsea lost to 4-1 at home to Brentford. They needed a last-minute goal to beat Watford at Stamford Bridge.

‘That tells you the mentality isn’t right – and there isn’t a whole lot the new owners can do about that.’

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