Chelsea in talks with Juventus over Federico Chiesa transfer and Raheem Sterling sacrifice
As reported by Gianluca DiMarzio, Chelsea and Juventus are discussing the possibility of an exchange between Federico Chiesa and Raheem Sterling.
According to Transfermarkt, both Church and Pound sterling They are valued at around £30m (€35m), and the Englishman's value in particular has plummeted since his move to west London two years ago, so perhaps a direct swap deal could be on the cards.
High-profile swaps are incredibly rare, with the most memorable being Zlatan Ibrahimović for Samuel Eto'o in 2009 and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sánchez nine years later, although, as noted Dan Roan for BBC Sporthave been a kind of theme of the summer in the Premier Leagueas clubs desperately seek to avoid points deductions for breaching the Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
As Di Marzio points out in his aforementioned article, a Sterling-Chiesa swap deal would be far from straightforward, primarily due to the fact that Sterling earns roughly double his counterpart's wages, at around £300,000 per week. According to Sam Dean of the Telegraph.
The Italian journalist adds that if a swap deal is not reached, Chelsea could still buy Chiesa, but only if they manage to find another buyer for Sterling.
Raheem Sterling's pre-match bombshell
On Sunday afternoon, 75 minutes before their first Premier League match against Manchester Cityfrom Chelsea Team News was released, with Raheem Sterling neither in the starting eleven nor even among the substitutes.
In response to this, Sterling's 'bank' released a statement which can be found herewhich contained a lot of nonsense, but said: 'Our expectation was that Raheem would be participating in this weekend's meeting… so we hope to get some clarity on the situation.'
Pundits and media working on the game at Stamford Bridge, which the Blues lost 2-0, unanimously ridiculed Sterling for his action, including the Sky Sports trio. Jamie Redknapp, Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge.
Since joining Chelsea from Sunday's opponents Man City for £47.5m in July 2022, Sterling has struggled for consistency – in line with the Blues' form generally, to be fair – scoring 19 goals in 81 appearances, managing just eight in the Premier League last season.
Given their ridiculously bloated squad, which by my reckoning currently contains 42 players not including the 11 on loan, Sterling was just one of several high-profile omissions from Sunday’s matchday squad; Kepa Arrizabalaga, Đorđe Petrović, Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka and Romelu Lukaku – one might say all – were also available but not present.
It is physically impossible for Enzo Maresca to keep everyone happy, so a major clean-up over the next week or so would surely benefit him and the club, even if that is easier said than done, so Sterling's days as a Chelsea player could be numbered.
Federico Chiesa, excluded
Meanwhile, the reason why this exchange could be feasible is that Federico Chiesa has also been excluded from Juventus.
As reported by Fabricius RomanoChiesa has not been included in the Vecchia Signora's squad for Monday night's Serie A opener, which sees newly promoted Como visit Turin.
Having appointed Thiago Motta as their new coach, Juve are making major changes to their squad, releasing Wojciech Szczęsny and Adrien Rabiot, while, according to reports Ritabrata Banerjee in goalChiesa, who is in the final year of his contract, has been explicitly told to find a new club as he will not be offered a new deal.
With the transfer The August 30, 2024 deadline is fast approaching. Could a trade deal be a win-win situation?
