Paul Merson on Raheem Sterling's situation at Chelsea: "[Enzo Maresca] needs Sterling - he's one of their better players. He's not been great for Chelsea but you're getting rid of someone better than a lot of other players in that squad"
Raheem Sterling now looks set to follow Conor Gallagher out of Chelsea's bloated squad after he missed Sunday's opening-weekend defeat by Man City and new arrival Pedro Neto took his No 7 shirt.
The four-time Premier League winner only joined Chelsea two years ago as a marquee arrival from Man City, but has now been frozen out at Stamford Bridge with manager Enzo Maresca saying he "prefers a different kind of winger".
That has not impressed Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson, who believes Sterling should be staying at Stamford Bridge - and believes anyone "with a pair of shin-pads" has a chance of being signed by the Blues on current form.
Chelsea need Sterling - something's not right
I find the Raheem Sterling one a real strange one. Raheem played in America and did well in pre-season. Raheem's been around a long time to read the situation and then all of a sudden, before the Man City game, he's not wanted anymore.
Maresca needs Sterling - he's one of their better players. He's not been great for Chelsea, but you're getting rid of someone better than a lot of other players in that squad.
It's not a good start so far. It's like a soap opera and that's the problem. It doesn't look good. Pochettino's walked away from a big club. In the end, he couldn't wait to get out of Chelsea. Something's not right.
There's a lot going on at Chelsea and the manager's got to hit the ground running. If he doesn't, the fans will soon get upset.Raheem's got young kids. People forget about this. You hear people say: "He's on £300,000 a week, he'll be alright." But he's still got kids.
If he's not in London, he'll have to move his kids or live away from them. It could be a rushed one. He's not got long now before the window closes.
The [Ben] Chilwell one, I'm not shocked. He hasn't been on the pitch long enough.