Raheem Sterling has scored 120 goals for Manchester City under Pep Guardiola – only Sergio Aguero (124) has managed more for the club since the manager’s arrival in 2016.
Chelsea have agreed with Manchester City for English winger Raheem Sterling.
The deal is worth up to £50m including add-ons and Sterling is set to arrive at Stamford Bridge on a five-year contract with an option for a further year.
Sterling will have to undergo a medical before the deal can be announced.
The 27-year-old has a year left on his contract with City and has attracted interest from big clubs overseas.
City signed Sterling from Liverpool in a £49m deal in 2015 and he has scored 131 goals in 339 games.
If the deal goes through, Sterling – who has 77 caps for England – would become Chelsea’s first major signing since they were taken over by a consortium led by Todd Boilley this summer.
The deal is expected to be completed in time for Sterling to link up with the Chelsea squad before they leave for their pre-season tour of the United States next week.
BBC Sport understands the decisions by all parties were amicable, but Sterling wants a new challenge and has been impressed by Blues manager Thomas Tuchel’s vision and the role he has been given.
Other big clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were also interested in Sterling, but the player was swayed by Chelsea’s publicly and privately stated desire to sign him.
City wanted Sterling to stay and he has no ill feelings towards the club or manager Pep Guardiola.
However, he sees this as the most important contract of his career and wants to play a key role at a club that is fighting for all the major honours.
Sterling still has team and professional goals he wants to achieve, including winning the Ballon d’Or.
Apart from Manchester United players, only John Terry and former City team-mate Fernandinho have won more than his four Premier League titles, but he is yet to win the Champions League.
Sterling has fueled talk of his future with City and it is understood he appreciates the space he has been given to make a decision.
Sterling boosts Chelsea’s attacking options
Tuchel was looking to strengthen his attacking ranks after Romelu Lukaku joined Inter on a season-long loan.
The Belgian striker was the Blues’ top scorer last season with 15 goals in all competitions, just ahead of Kai Havertz (14) and Mason Mount (13).
Since Guardiola took over as manager in 2016, only Sergio Aguero (124) has scored more goals for City than Sterling (120).
Sterling scored 13 goals in 30 Premier League appearances last season as he won his fourth league title, his ninth major honor in seven seasons with City.
But his options have been limited by the signing of Jack Grealish last summer, while strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez have arrived at the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Sterling was on the bench for both legs of the Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid and the epic season finale against Aston Villa.
However, he sparked that memorable comeback on the final day by setting up Ilkay Gundogan’s decisive first goal as City came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and fire Liverpool to the league title.
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