How Enzo Maresca ‘missed a trick’ letting ‘Uncle Raheem’ Sterling leave Chelsea on loan for Arsenal last summer
Published 07/04/2025 at 17:03 GMT+1
During an episode of The Breakdown, TNT Sports experts Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott said Chelsea are paying the price for letting Raheem Sterling leave the club. After taking over from Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca loaned Sterling to Arsenal. The 30-year-old has scored just once for The Gunners but Cole and Lescott think his wealth of experience is missed at Stamford Bridge.
Did Maresca make a mistake letting Sterling go? Cole assesses ‘tumultuous’ season at Chelsea
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Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott believe Chelsea "missed a trick" by letting Raheem Sterling leave for Arsenal on loan last summer.
Sterling was deemed surplus to requirements by new Blues boss Enzo Maresca but was handed a career lifeline by Mikel Arteta in north London.
And although he has netted just once in all competitions this season, the TNT Sports experts think his contribution extends far beyond goals and assists.
Under owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea have garnered plenty of attention with their strategy of offering young players long deals, with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson, for example, under contract until 2033.
But that has left Maresca with a large squad that, according to Cole and Lescott, lacks a key ingredient for success.
"There’s no-one with enough experience that everyone will listen to," Lescott said during an episode of The Breakdown. "Even Raheem, you don’t let Raheem go. You don’t say go and play for Arsenal because I don’t want you to play for us.
"[You say], ‘Raheem, I need you to do this, this is your role for this season’.
"This generation look at Raheem way different to the perception of the fans. This generation really look up to him. He’s won, he’s done it, and they know he’s done it.
"They’ve missed a trick with letting players like that go."
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While at Manchester City, Sterling was part of four Premier League winning sides and also boasts an FA Cup and five Carabao Cups on his roll of honour.
He left the Etihad at the end of the 2021/22 season for Chelsea before joining Arsenal on loan for the current campaign.
The 30-year-old has perhaps not had the impact on the pitch he would have hoped for when linking up with Arteta, but Cole hinted that he has been instrumental in helping teenagers Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri break through.
"We talked to Raheem after the Arsenal game [at home to PSV Eindhoven], he had a good game," Cole said. "But we asked him about looking after Skelly and Nwaneri and he is mentoring them. Uncle Raheem."
Pushed by fellow TNT Sports expert Joe Hart on who else could fill that void in experience, Cole picked out another unlikely candidate.
"Someone like a Danny Welbeck," Cole said. "It would have been insane to go and sign him at 33, 34; by the way he’s scored more goals than any Chelsea centre-forward so on the pitch technically it would work.
"But him as a player that’s done it all at the top level and is a good lad who could set the culture. That’s just one that springs off the top of my mind."
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