From Wonderkid to Free Agent: How did Raheem Sterling End Up Here?
From Liverpool wonderkid to Manchester City star, now free agent at 31: Raheem Sterling’s Unexpected Shock Fall
Raheem Sterling was once a Liverpool wonderkid, a key part of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City machine, and one of the first names on the England team sheet.
Now aged 31, he finds himself without a club having recently been released from Chelsea.
Raheem Sterling struggled during his spell at Chelsea. Image credits: Pinterest
So how did Raheem Sterling, one of the elite forwards of his generation, end up without a club at just 31? Let’s have a look at how his career unfolded.
Liverpool: The Wonderkid With No Fear
In February 2010, Raheem Sterling made the switch from QPR’s academy to Liverpool. QPR were top of the Championship at the time and subsequently won promotion at the end of the season. But with no first-team appearances at just 15 years old, Liverpool was the chosen destination for the English wonderkid.
No Liverpool fan can forget the 2013-14 title-contending front four of Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, and Philippe Coutinho. Just two points behind Manchester City, a whopping 101 league goals weren’t quite enough to lift the trophy. A whole season of entertainment, Liverpool were one of the most exciting sides in the league.
With 10 goals in 38 games that season, Raheem Sterling was now an established Liverpool player, named the Liverpool Young Player of the season, and was awarded the European Golden Boy award.
Sterling was still a teenager, rapid but still raw, and one year later, Manchester City came knocking.
Raheem Sterling scoring against Manchester City for Liverpool in 2014 during their crucial 3-2 win as both teams battled for the title:
Manchester City: The Prime Years
Aged 20, Sterling’s move for an initial £44 million in 2015 made him the most expensive English footballer ever at that time. Surpassing Andy Carroll’s £35 million move from Newcastle to Liverpool in 2011.
A man full of ambition, but deemed greedy and a snake by some Liverpool fans. His wage rose from £35,000 to £150,000 a week, which may have been the reason, despite Liverpool offering £100,000 a week to keep him.
Sterling responds to being called a snake:
Just seven months later, one of the greatest managers of all time, Pep Guardiola, arrived. Sterling was now in the perfect environment to develop.
It took Sterling over 2 years to reach peak form, scoring more goals in 2017-18 than in the previous two seasons. With 18 league goals and fifth top scorer in the league, he helped Manchester City break the points record with 100 points and lift both the Premier League and EFL Cup trophies.
Sterling became vital to Manchester City’s success. He played through their dominant era, winning:
- 4 x Premier League titles
- 1 x FA Cup
- 5 x League Cups
- 1 x Community shield
Sterling also scooped up the 2018-19 PFA Young Player of the Year award ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marcus Rashford, Declan Rice, and Bernardo Silva.
Sterling delivered consistently and was a standout for the seven years he was at Manchester City. Since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, he finished with the most combined goals and assists for the club, a constant in the Premier League, Champions League, and domestic cups until his departure in 2022.
England: Ups and Downs
Sterling earned his first senior England call-up aged just 17 in September 2012 but had to wait two months to make his debut, making him England’s fifth youngest debutant at the time (Now sixth after Jude Bellingham’s debut in 2020).
After his outstanding 2017-18 season with Manchester City, Sterling was named in the 23-man England squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He had struggled for England up to that point, scoring just two goals in 37 caps, and scored zero goals in the tournament as England lost 2-1 to Croatia in extra time in the semi-finals.
Sterling never looked back. A few months later, he doubled his international goals tally, scoring two goals in 38 minutes as England beat Spain 3-2 in the first edition of UEFA Nations League.
In the years leading up to the delayed UEFA Euro 2020, Sterling became a consistent scorer for England, scoring eight goals in nine games in 2019.
Sterling scored his 100th Manchester City goal against former club Liverpool in a 4-1 win as he lifted his third league title in 2021. But the one elusive trophy remained the Champions League, and that year, Sterling started in the final against Chelsea, only to lose 1-0.
A month later came the delayed UEFA Euro 2020. Sterling’s three tournament goals helped England reach the final at Wembley against Italy; however, they were defeated on penalties.
For years, Sterling was Southgate’s go-to man on the left wing. Many England fans called for the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, and Jack Grealish instead. But Southgate often benched them in favour of Sterling.
Then Sterling’s club and international career came crashing down…
Chelsea: Where It All Went Wrong
Sterling wasn’t played as often as he’d have liked in his final Manchester City season, and with the arrival of Erling Haaland to finally replace Sergio Aguero, and just a year left on his contract, he took the next step of his career down south, back to London.
In July 2022, 131 Manchester City goals later, Sterling joined Premier League rivals Chelsea for £50 million on a five-year deal, earning £325,000 a week. Sterling became Thomas Tuchel’s first signing as Chelsea manager, tipped to provide goals and assists, having outscored every Chelsea player for each of the previous five seasons.
On paper, it looked like a smart move: a new challenge, back in London for a big club, and set to start most games. But that’s not how it turned out.
In fact, Sterling joined a Chelsea experiencing constant manager changes, shifting systems, and outrageous spending on new forwards under new co-owner Todd Boehly. In Sterling’s three and a half years at the club they went through six different managers: Tuchel, Potter, Lampard, Pochettino, Maresca, and Rosenoir.
Chelsea’s new ownership flooded the squad with attacking signings from Aubameyang, Mudryk, Madueke and Nkunku to Garnacho, Pedro, Gittens, and Neto.
Sterling struggled to replicate his Manchester City form and scored just 19 goals in 81 appearances across his first two seasons at Chelsea. His last England cap came as a substitute in their 2-1 defeat in the World Cup quarter finals against France in 2022.
Injuries and mixed form led to a season-long loan to London rivals Arsenal, a side challenging Manchester City and Liverpool for the Premier League title, a step back up to the top level for Sterling.
Except that Sterling was no longer performing at the level of an elite winger anymore. He scored just once in 28 appearances, a tap-in from less than a yard out into an empty net against Bolton in the League Cup third round.
Sterling returned to Chelsea in the summer of 2025 to be told he’d train away from the first team by boss Enzo Maresca, who said he was no longer the kind of winger they wanted.
Now costing Chelsea £325,000 a week to be excluded from the first team set up, and with a huge wage set to cost Chelsea £25 million if he were to stay until his contract ran out in 2027, the two parties mutually agreed to terminate his contract in January 2026.
Here are Raheem Sterling’s best Premier League goals:
End Of The Story or One Last Chapter?
Raheem Sterling was once one of Europe’s most devastating wingers. Now he’s a free agent, searching for a new club.
It’s unknown if he’ll find a new club and hit the ground running fast enough to earn an England call-up for the 2026 World Cup.
At 31, his career is surely not over. The question is whether there will be one last chapter, or if this is where Raheem Sterling’s story quietly fades away? Perhaps he makes the move to Saudi Arabia or the MLS?
