Aston Villa 'monitoring' Chelsea situation as exciting transfer prediction made

The 29-year-old was left out of the Blues' squad for their defeat to Manchester City on the weekend. Sterling was not listed in their squad for their UEFA Conference League qualifier with Servette too.

His future at Stamford Bridge has now been cast in to doubt, with manager Enzo Maresca admitting on Sunday that his Sterling’s position at the club would be clarified in the coming days. The former Leicester City boss did stress the need to move players on with Axel Disasi, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka all absent on Sunday as well.

Serie A giants Juventus are said to have made an enquiry for the 82-time England international, but there is another twist. Ben Jacobs, the Senior Football Correspondent for GiveMeSport, and a commentator for talkSPORT, has revealed that the Villains are looking at the situation, and whilst he doesn’t think a move will materialise, he does think they will be ‘really busy’ in the last few days of the summer transfer window.

Speaking on the London Is Blue podcast, Jacobs said: “So the reality for Sterling now might appear frozen out but if the window shuts and he’s still at Chelsea, it might be a slightly different situation.

“Juventus, the team that have been linked repeatedly, I’m told yet the Sterling camp haven’t had a direct approach, but it is true that they’re interested in Raheem Sterling.

“It’s also true to my knowledge that if Sterling gets the right project presented to him, he would take a wage cut. It’s not a given that wages are going to stop Sterling from leaving.

“The last thing interestingly that I’ve heard which surprised me is that Aston Villa are monitoring the situation too. Now Villa have lost Diaby and they wanted Joao Felix remember. 

“I’m not sure that it will gather legs at this point. It’s very formative and Chelsea haven’t had an approach. But just keep them at the back of your mind because Villa are going to be really busy in the closing days of the window.”

Chelsea already have a bloated squad but are close to unveiling the signing of Joao Felix, who was a reported transfer target for Villa. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano posted on Twitter on Tuesday night that Chelsea and Atleti had been signing the formal documents for Felix 'right now' and that a deal was done and sealed.

The first part of the deal saw Conor Gallagher head to Atletico Madrid for a deal worth €42m. Gallagher had been a target for Villa earlier on in the summer but they instead decided to pursue a move for Amadou Onana.

As for Sterling, whilst a move to Villa hasn't been ruled out entirely, news that he would be willing to take a pay cut is good news should they take their initial interest up a notch. He is a proven player at this level with four Premier League titles at Manchester City, and would help comply with the homegrown quota rules that the Premier League has.