Ferdinand slams ‘wild’ Chelsea as he defends ‘Uncle Sterling’ with players given ’email’ transfer update

Rio Ferdinand has hit out at Chelsea over their treatment of England international Raheem Sterling, as recent events at Stamford Bridge have been “wild”.

29-year-old Sterling joined Chelsea from Manchester City for around £47.5m during the 2022 summer transfer window.

The experienced forward has struggled to live up to expectations following his move to the Premier League giants and he’s been heavily linked with a move elsewhere this summer.

Sterling was left out of Chelsea ‘s squad ahead of their match against Man City on Sunday. Before the game got underway, a statement released on behalf of the forward demanded clarity and head coach Enzo Maresca has addressed the situation.

“All the players in this moment, they are Chelsea players. If they are going be Chelsea players, we are going to try and use them,” Maresca said.

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“I want Raheem Sterling, but I want all the players we have and there is no space for all of them. So for some of them, they have to leave.”

This situation has angered Ferdinand, who claims Chelsea players are being “told” transfer updates by “email”.

Ferdinand also refers to Sterling as “Uncle Raheem” as he has “got no understanding of where his situation lies”.

“I see all the young players, especially in that squad, talk about Raheem, it’s like Uncle Raheem. Cole Palmer, the likes of Reece James, it’s Uncle Raheem,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

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“And he’s looked after a lot of these boys, they come to him, so when you kick that guy in the changing room, all of them are going to limp at some point and they aren’t going to take it well and you create a problem in your own dressing room.

“There’s nobody delivering that message with any clarity, and from what I’m hearing he (Sterling) has got no understanding of where his situation lies.

“He hasn’t had anyone in the hierarchy come to him and say: ‘Listen, you’re surplus to requirements, we want to get rid of you’.

“And what I’m hearing is that the last conversation that was had was like ‘everything is fine”.

“I’m hearing they’re getting told (updates) by email and stuff like that. This is wild.”

Joleon Lescott added: “You’re going to ask a player to leave and there’s obviously years on the contracts, so you want to leave in good faith because then players are okay when the circumstances are made, you leave a bit on the table in order to go somewhere else, but if you treat me like a piece of s*** then I’m not going to do you any favours.”