Chelsea to sign £50m Raheem Sterling but miss out on Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele – Paper Round

Chelsea strike £50m deal for Sterling

The Sun reports that Chelsea have agreed a deal for Raheem Sterling. The 27-year-old Manchester City forward will join for an initial £47.5 million fee, with a further £2.5m in potential add-ons. The England international is impressed with Thomas Tuchel, the manager at Stamford Bridge, and he could soon join the London club’s pre-season tour ahead of the new campaign.

Paper Round’s view: At £50m there is little profit for City to have given they paid Liverpool £44m for him, and with wages they may even have suffered a loss in some respects, but Sterling was crucial to their string of Premier League titles, and was one of the players who took City from also-rans to perennial title challengers, and Chelsea have an excellent player.

Tuchel reluctant to sign Ronaldo

One forward who looks no closer to a move to Chelsea, though, is Cristiano Ronaldo. The Mail claims that German manager Thomas Tuchel is not keen to have the 37-year-old striker because he wants a more flexible and mobile forward line. Raheem Sterling is one of those players in mind, with Kai Havertz and one of Raphinha or Ousmane Dembele the other to be part of a trio.

Paper Round’s view: Ronaldo is so good at what he does that for many teams, they do not need to worry about what he does to the rest of the setup of the side on the pitch. But Chelsea are looking to challenge for the title and if they need to have tactically flexible players who can all play across the front line, then sticking Ronaldo in the middle would be a backward step.

Barca set to re-sign Dembele

Ousmane Dembele might be wanted at Chelsea by Thomas Tuchel, but it seems likely that he will miss out on his former Borussia Dortmund colleague. The 25-year-old French international winger is out of contract at Barcelona, but Spanish newspaper Marca believes that Dembele wants to remain and will likely sign a new deal for the next two seasons.

Paper Round’s view: Two seasons seems a sensible compromise for both Dembele and Barcelona. For the club, they are taking less of a risk with a player whose form is inconsistent and whose injury record is patchy. For the player, he can still get through the next season before lining up suitors for a big-money free transfer while he is at his peak.

Martinez wants United deal

The Mirror reports that Lisandro Martinez could force his way out of Ajax, with the 24-year-old ready to down tools as he awaits Manchester United to agree a deal with his current club. Elsewhere, United are still pursuing Frenkie De Jong, while they are yet to hold talks with Ajax over their winger Antony, and RB Leipzig Brian Brobbey could instead replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Paper Round’s view: If things get testy between United and Ajax over the transfer of Martinez, that might preclude a transfer for Antony, and it could worsen relations for future transfers. As for Ronaldo, his wish to leave is understandable, but his future needs to be resolved swiftly so that United can plan for the next season with good time for Erik ten Hag to prepare his squad.