Raheem Sterling’s first day as a Chelsea player was intense to say the least.
The England international became the first men’s team signing of the Todd Boehly era and has joined up with Thomas Tuchel and the first-team squad for the Blues’ pre-season tour of the United States, during which games against Club America, Charlotte FC and Arsenal will be played.
football audit understands Chelsea will pay Man City an initial fee worth around £45million for Sterling. A further £10m will be due to the Premier League champions if a number of performance-related add-ons are met throughout the 27-year-old’s time at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling and Boehly have already delivered their own initial thoughts on the news but with more business expected soon with a Kalidou Koulibaly acquisition very much on the cards, the Blues’ transfer window has certainly kicked off on the right note.
When Raheem Sterling first arrived in Los Angeles with Chelsea. ? pic.twitter.com/4Ocoru1zDO
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 14, 2022
Only hours after Man City’s former No. 7 had his move confirmed in Los Angeles, Sterling and his new teammates got down to business with what looked like an intense training session overseen by manager Thomas Tuchel and his coaching staff.
Tuchel himself took time out of his schedule to offer up his own verdict on the Sterling move and what it meant for his main Premier League rivals Man City and Liverpool, after they signed the Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez, respectively.
“Sterling was the number one priority. We are very excited and super happy that we could make it happen. I think he’s a big improvement to our squad and exactly what we were looking for in terms of age, experience and style of play,” he said via Sky Sports.
Raheem Sterling trains with his new Chelsea teammates for the first time. ?
[via @ChelseaFC]. pic.twitter.com/QRx8ex2OLy
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 14, 2022
“The signing of Raheem Sterling shows what we’re capable of doing, it shows the ambition of the club and the ownership and it’s good because we’re all here to win and compete.
“We love to compete and we love the challenge at the very top. For that we need signings of new quality players or otherwise there’s no chance.”
After Sterling’s first ever training in the Trivago Chelsea gear, as well as taking time out to sign autographs with the supporters who attended the open training, he was keen himself alongside other players to get involved in the LA Dodgers culture.
The Dodgers themselves were in action on Wednesday as they edged out the St Louis Cardinals 7-6 on home turf and the new recruit alongside his teammates sat up in the stands to watch on.
After proceedings came to a close, Edouard Mendy and Sterling went on the pitch together to take in their surroundings in full Dodgers gear, which the Senegal international captured on his Instagram story.
Discussion about this post