As Arsenal’s sporting director Edu acknowledged in the early hours of Saturday morning, signing Raheem Sterling was never part of Arsenal’s plan. But when the chance to reunite with the England forward came up, after Mikel Arteta struck up a close relationship with him during his spell as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the Arsenal manager didn’t hesitate.
There had been a hint in the Spaniard’s press conference before their win at Villa Park last week that Sterling might end up at Arsenal. Arteta had been asked whether there was any temptation to give him a call after Chelsea had made it clear the 29-year-old was no longer part of their plans.
“No, but I can talk about my time with Raheem,” he said. “It was exceptional, we built a really strong relationship together. He was unbelievable at the time we were together and he taught me a lot as well. About individuals, how they play and how we give them support and help them. He’s someone I have a really strong feeling about.”
So it was not really that surprising when it emerged on transfer deadline day that Arsenal were trying to thrash out a deal to bring Sterling in on loan until the end of the season. With Emile Smith Rowe having already departed for Fulham, a deal for Eddie Nketiah to join Crystal Palace for £30m in place and late interest in Reiss Nelson from Ipswich and Fulham, greater emphasis had been placed on the need to bring in more attacking reinforcements.
When Nelson eventually agreed to join Fulham on loan, Arsenal were able to proceed with Sterling’s move that is understood to involve them paying less than half of his £325,000 a week salary. He had arrived at Arsenal’s training ground in Hertfordshire not long before the 11pm deadline on Friday, with the deal eventually being confirmed after 1am by Arsenal.
“It’s one where we kind of left it late but it’s one I was hoping for. Looking at everything, I’m just, like, ‘This is a perfect fit for me’, and I’m super happy that we got it over the line,” said Sterling.
“I spoke with Edu and I said that it’s something you can see from the outside, you can see the real togetherness from Mikel’s time here and you see the journey that the boys are on. You can see the hunger, and the togetherness is something I’m looking to be a part of.”
Edu added: “We never planned to sign him when we started the transfer window, just to be very transparent. For different reasons. But we always say to everyone that you have to be prepared for every single scenario. It makes a lot of sense to have someone like him because I’m pretty sure he is going to add a lot in the squad.”
Having been deemed surplus to requirements by Guardiola two seasons ago when he was allowed to move to Chelsea, Sterling may even have an extra incentive to help Arsenal claim their first Premier League title since the Invincibles in 2004. He will join former City players Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus in north London, although Arteta will hope that he can have more of an impact than two players who these days find themselves on the fringe of his first team.
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Sterling – who was in the stands for Arsenal’s fiery draw with Brighton having signed too late to feature – will fancy his chances of forcing his way into Arteta’s plans when he is up to full speed but will need to oust Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard if he is to start regularly in his preferred position on the left flank. He is also capable of filling in for Bukayo Saka on the right or Kai Havertz through the middle if required, although Arteta will be praying the German can maintain his recent run of form after another excellent finish for his goal against Brighton.
But there is no doubt that the presence of a player with four Premier League winners’ medals should only augment a squad that remains one of the youngest in the league.
“We have to see him, speak to him about what he’s been doing and how he’s feeling about it,” said Arteta after the Brighton game that ended their eight-match winning run. “We have to try to find quick wins to get him up to speed as quickly as possible and for him to understand what we are looking for from him in the dynamics of the team. We will use that time to do that and get him involved as soon as possible.”
A trip across north London to face Tottenham is the first opportunity that Sterling could feature, with Arsenal facing the acid test against City a week later. Like Arteta, he would surely relish the opportunity to get one over Guardiola.