The questions posed by Sterling's arrival
- Published
Alistair Magowan, BBC Sport
Given his goalscoring capability, Raheem Sterling may appear to be an upgrade on those already in place and makes up for the shortfall left by Romelu Lukaku.
He also represents a statement of intent from the new owners, who are understood to have ambitious plans in the transfer market.
It does put pressure on boss Thomas Tuchel who will need a goal return. Crucially though, he is the first signing made by Tuchel since he was given more power under co-owner and interim sporting director Todd Boehly following the exits of technical and performance advisor Petr Cech and director Marina Granovskaia, who previously handled negotiations.
Sterling's arrival, however, will lead to questions about the futures of wide forwards Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech and his success may depend on them leaving the club.
They were all signings made before Tuchel was appointed midway through the 2020-21 season and departures might avoid frustrations about playing time and help balance the books under a majority private equity ownership.
