Raheem Sterling has underwhelmed since a move to Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright admits he wanted Raheem Sterling to join the Gunners last summer and says the winger ‘can’t be happy’ with his move to Chelsea so far.
Sterling joined Chelsea in a £50m deal last summer after requesting to leave Manchester City, where he was unhappy with his playing time under Pep Guardiola.
The England forward was a roaring success at the Etihad and won everything but a European trophy during his seven years in the north-west.
Sterling’s game improved significantly after Mikel Arteta joined Guardiola at the Etihad in 2016 and he helped turn the former Liverpool man into a goalscorer.
Arsenal were consistently linked with a move for Sterling since Arteta’s appointment at the Emirates but they did not challenge Chelsea for his signature, having already signed Gabriel Jesus from City.
And Wright admits he was desperate to see the Chelsea winger join his former club in north London.
Sterling was a reported target for Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
‘I have got to ask you, with Arsenal coming up at the weekend, I was praying that there is truth in the talk about you coming,’ Wright told Sterling on Premier League Productions.
‘But it didn’t happen – I got so psyched up about thinking of you in the red kit.’
Wright moved on before allowing Sterling to answer whether there was any truth in Arsenal’s reported interest and then went on to speak to the winger about his disappointing start at Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel was sacked just six weeks into the season and replaced by Graham Potter, who was beaten 4-1 by former side Brighton at the weekend.
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Sterling has been asked to play a deeper role at times, with the former City winger being used as a wing-back at times which sees him having to defend on a more regular basis.
That’s seen Sterling score just four times this season and Wright believes the forward ‘can’t be happy’ with his role at the club.
‘It’s one of the confusing things that Graham Potter is doing at the moment. I can’t get my head around it,’ said Wright.
‘Even when I did the analysis on the game the full-back area was just there for Brighton to tear them to pieces.You’ve got Pulisic and Sterling who are supposedly meant to help Chalobah and Cucurella but it wasn’t happening. I couldn’t understand it. There’s no way he can be happy playing that role.
‘Especially when you look at what he’s done at City and the team he was playing in – everything was focused on offence for him. It must be really strange and tough for him to have to play in a new position like that I hope they can sort that out for him.’
MORE : Kalidou Koulibaly reveals two Chelsea legends told he could struggle at new club
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Imagine him at the Emirates…
