Chelsea thought Thomas Tuchel’s top target was a bargain, he’ll now go down as one of their worst buys

Add as preferred source on Google

During Thomas Tuchel’s reign as Chelsea manager, the Blues brought in some quality players.

For example, in the summer of 2021, fresh from winning the Champions League, Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.

In the end, things did not work out for the Belgian striker, but no one can deny his talent.

A year later, Chelsea bought the likes of Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Sterling and Fofana cost big money, but the club really felt they were getting a great deal with one of them at the time. Sterling could now join Fulham after a difficult spell at Stamford Bridge.

• READ MORE: Antonio Conte lines up raid on former club Chelsea for player he once called ‘very dangerous’

Chelsea thought Raheem Sterling was a bargain before transfer turned sour

All things considered, you cannot blame Chelsea for thinking that Sterling would be a great addition to their squad.

According to a report from The Standard in 2022, Chelsea felt they were getting a bargain by signing Sterling from Manchester City in a deal worth around £47.5m.

Sterling arrived at Stamford Bridge as a Premier League-proven player with an exceptional goal record. At City, the England international managed to score an impressive 131 goals in 339 appearances.

However, the kind of form that he showed under Pep Guardiola did not translate over to Chelsea. He finished his first season in west London with just six league goals and only managed two more than that the following campaign.

Since then, the former City man has been axed from the Chelsea first-team squad, with the Club World Cup winners currently trying to get rid of him.

Ex-Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has been very critical of Sterling recently, suggesting that he has been overhyped during his career.

What Thomas Tuchel said about Raheem Sterling signing

Former Chelsea manager Tuchel was very excited about Sterling’s move to Stamford Bridge.

Under new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Tuchel identified Sterling as his top target, and the club managed to deliver him.

“It was the number one priority and we are very excited and super happy that we could make it happen,” the German told Sky Sports.

Unfortunately for Tuchel, he was sacked not too long after Sterling’s arrival, while the 30-year-old was never quite able to kick on after his two-goal display against Leicester City early in the 2022/23 season.

For what they paid and given what was expected of Sterling, he will have to go down as one of the club’s worst ever signings.