Raheem Sterling ready to get back to basics after stalling at Chelsea

W hen Raheem Sterling returns to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon and sees John Stones floating into midfield, their creative players servicing Erling Haaland and everyone in light blue going into overdrive when possession is lost, it will bring home the difference between a team that obey their manager’s every command and one who have spent an entire season in a state of self-imposed flux.

Sterling is all too aware of the standards required to reach and stay at the top. Everybody in the City dressing room had to understand that Pep Guardiola’s vision was sacrosanct. Doing so allowed City to flourish and individuals to take their game to new heights. By the time Sterling left last summer, he had 131 goals and 74 assists in all competitions and won four league titles at the club.

Those numbers underlined Sterling’s efficiency. He is not a flashy player but he has a way of getting the job done. He is, as Frank Lampard said after seeing Sterling score twice in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, a killer in the final third.

Yet that ruthlessness has been lacking this season. It has been the toughest year of Sterling’s career and he is hurting. The thought of not playing in Europe next season is gnawing at him. He never imagined it would be this hard when Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital made him their first signing after their takeover of Chelsea. The deal seemed to suit everyone: Sterling had drifted to the margins at City, while Chelsea were looking to revamp their malfunctioning attack and hailed the England winger as a “marquee” buy after he joined for £47.5m.

Spool forward to the present day, though, and Chelsea’s attack remains uninspired. They are in the bottom half of the Premier League