Second most expensive Englishman ever - Sterling agrees short-term deal to join Feyenoord

Feyenoord confirmed the signing of former England international Raheem Sterling on Thursday. Following the player’s departure from Chelsea in late January, when Sterling and the Stamford Bridge club agreed to mutually terminate his contract, the forward was made available as a free agent. Despite being linked to a host of Premier League sides, as well as Bundesliga club Union Berlin and Napoli and Juventus in Serie A, Sterling has now agreed a short-term deal to play for the Eredivisie giants for the remainder of the season.

“As a free agent, I've had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step in my career,” said the former Liverpool and Manchester City winger in a statement on the Dutch club’s website. “I wanted to take my time to speak with clubs and their head coaches to better understand the role they envisioned for me and ensure that I can add real value in this next chapter. Having spoken in great detail with CEO Dennis te Kloese and Robin [Van Persie], I'm confident that Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team. Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me - and one I’m ready to embrace. Honestly, I’m just excited to get started.”

Sterling departs English football with a sizable legacy intact. After breaking through at Liverpool, Sterling made a €64 million move to Man City, where he was a star in Pep Guardiola’s team for the best part of seven years. The English forward then joined Chelsea in 2022 for €56.2m, but struggled to make a similar impact at Stamford Bridge and following a lacklustre loan spell at Arsenal it now seems as though Sterling has opted for a new challenge outside of the Premier League. Over the course of his career, Sterling amassed total transfer fees of €120.6m - making him the second most expensive Englishman ever, behind only Jude Bellingham (€157.2m) and ahead of Jack Grealish (€117.5m).

Why it didn't work out for Sterling at Chelsea

The former England international cost Chelsea as much as €56.2m when he arrived from Manchester City in 2022, but after scoring nine goals in his first season in West London, he was frozen out by Enzo Maresca, after the Italian succeeded Mauricio Pochettino as head coach in summer of 2024. With the Sky Blues, Sterling won four Premier League titles, four League Cups and an FA Cup, and became an integral part of the England team.

However, his career nosedived in the capital. His market value reached €160m in 2019 and still stood at €70m when Chelsea bought him. Nevertheless, today that figure stands at just €5m. It is expected that a player's value falls as he gets older, but not by this magnitude. At 31, Sterling still has a lot to offer and the fact he rejected interest from clubs like Bayern Munich over a loan last summer shows his talent is still rated at the highest level.