Raheem Sterling loan to Arsenal confirmed

Arsenal and Chelsea have agreed to a dry loan for Raheem Sterling, with neither a fee nor an option to make the move permanent. With how late in the day the move materialized, the two clubs had to submit a deal sheet, which extended their deadline to finalize and submit all the required paperwork by two hours. Reports are now that the deal is done.

It’s a fantastic move for the Gunners. They get a veteran, Premier League proven winger who makes the team better this season without affecting the club’s ability to move for a younger talent in the future. A front-six of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Martinelli, and Leandro Trossard is a formidable one with plenty of firepower and an upgrade on what the club had last season. Sterling represents a significant upgrade on Reiss Nelson, who will spend the season on loan at Fulham.

It’s a great move for Sterling too, who was reportedly keen on the move. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s been told he’s surplus to requirements at Chelsea under new manager Enzo Maresca. He gets to keep his family in London, and he’s swapping that mess at Stamford Bridge for a manager he’s worked with before (at Manchester City), a much more stable environment, and a club that missed out on the Premier League title by a measly two points last season. A player of Sterling’s quality could easily make up that difference on his own.

It’s even a decent move for Chelsea. Without the loan, they’d be playing Sterling £300K per week to not play for the club (more or less). Now, they’re only paying a portion of that, with Arsenal footing the other portion of the bill. For a while, it looked as if the deal might stall out over how much of his wage each team would pay, but the Blues came to their senses and realized that saving several million pounds is better than saving zero million pounds.

Reports are that Arsenal are happy with how the wage split piece of the negotiation turned out. Then again, why would they brief the media otherwise? They wouldn’t have made the deal if they weren’t willing to pay whatever portion they’re ending up paying. Maybe Arsenal had a top-end number at which they were going to walk away and ended up making the deal for less than that. There are unconfirmed reports that Arsenal will be paying less than 50% of Sterling’s wage.

He’s probably just a one-season rental player because of his wages, but if it goes well, maybe the two clubs can work something out where Chelsea pay out enough of Sterling’s contract that he helps push the move through next summer. If Sterling has still got it, a Jorginho-sized fee and a new two or three year deal at Arsenal on a reasonable wage wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Here’s a fun piece of trivia: Raheem Sterling will become only the second player in the Premier League era to play for all four of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool. The only other was Nicolas Anelka.

Sterling can play across the front line and should still have plenty of juice left. He’s not the dribbly, pacey terror he was at Manchester City, but he’s managed 9 and 12 goal contributions at Chelsea the last two seasons. It’s not unreasonable to think that he might improve those numbers playing for a better, more settled Arsenal side. He should at least match or improve his per 90 goal contributions, whether he gets all the way to 12 is contingent on minutes played.

Last year, Raheem Sterling averaged 0.49 xG+xA per 90 in the Premier League. For comparison, Gabriel Martinelli put up 0.48 last season and 0.46 the season before. As I said, Sterling still has plenty of game left in him.

We’ve got no idea how many minutes Sterling will get at Arsenal or where he’ll play. He was used most frequently on the left at Chelsea, but he played some on the right and can play through the middle. It’s possible we’ll see him in all three positions at Arsenal, too. The Gunners have Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard battling it out on the left, although if you asked Sterling (and he was honest), he’d back himself to claim the starting LW spot.

The easiest fit on Arsenal’s roster looks to be 2nd-choice right wing. Bukayo Saka has played too much football pretty much every season he’s been a starter at Arsenal. He’d be more effective and more dangerous if he was fresher. Raheem Sterling can help with that. Even playing on his off-wing, Sterling is an immediate upgrade on Reiss Nelson in that spot. We may even see Trossard or Martinelli on the right, although neither has looked particularly good in appearances on that side in the past.

Already, Mikel Arteta has shown a willingness to substitute Saka off down the stretch of matches this season, replacing him for a handful minutes as the clock winds down. With Sterling on the bench, a veteran player that presumably Arteta trusts more than Nelson, Arteta may be more willing to give Saka 20-25 minutes off in matches when he can. Additionally, Nelson played 268 Premier League minutes last season. Sterling will get more than that regardless of where he is most used in the formation.

For reference, Trossard played nearly 1,700 Premier League minutes last season, so 1,500 seems like a decent guess for Sterling. To get to that number, Sterling will have to start at least handful of matches. There won’t be anything approaching the same feeling of concern at seeing Sterling starting on the teamsheet as there was when Nelson was listed. For what it’s worth, I think we’ll see a bunch of players at either wing position when Bukayo Saka isn’t on the field. It wouldn’t surprise me to see any or all of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and even Kai Havertz get time on both wings this season.

I love Arsenal loaning in Raheem Sterling. It’s a move that has virtually no downside and massive upside for the club. As I said earlier today, he raises the floor significantly and probably raises the ceiling a touch, too.

Bringing in Sterling sends a strong, positive signal to the locker room (not that it needed one). Having guys in the room thinking “hey, we’ve just added a really good player,” can only be a good thing, right? He’s also won the Premier League before. Maybe some of that know-how will rub off on his Arsenal teammates.