Raheem Sterling's Decline: Has His Career Hit a Turning Point After Reaching 500 Appearances? 2025

 In the early 2000s, Rafael Benítez, then manager of Liverpool, faced significant criticism when he rested Steven Gerrard for an FA Cup match against Burnley, a team in the Championship. Liverpool lost, and this led to a predictable backlash, particularly from those who were skeptical about Benítez's rotation policy. Benítez explained that managing player minutes was crucial for long-term success, especially in a season where players would face a heavy fixture load. At the time, social media was still in its infancy, meaning the response was more of a traditional critique from old-school football figures. These critics, steeped in the game’s history, believed that players should simply "get on with it," viewing hard work as a necessary part of their job. Yet, amidst the criticism, an age-old piece of wisdom began to resurface, mostly from veteran coaches with decades of experience in the game. This piece of wisdom suggested that, regardless of how long a player has been in the game or how many minutes they've played, the general rule was that a player has 500 appearances in them over the course of their career.

Raheem Sterling's 500th senior appearance came in Manchester City’s 2-0 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain on September 28, 2021. The idea that a player might have a limited number of games in them is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. After all, no one is pulling a player off the pitch when they hit 500 games. However, there is truth to the notion that players tend to experience a decline in their performances as they accumulate appearances. At the time of his 500th appearance, Sterling was 27 years old, and he had played 151 more games since. But the question remained: how many of those subsequent games did he perform well in?

In the 2021-22 season, Manchester City won the Premier League and made it to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and Champions League. Sterling played fewer games than in any previous Premier League season with City, though he still managed to score 13 league goals. This didn’t raise major concerns at first. However, Pep Guardiola, City’s manager, noticed something in Sterling's performances. There appeared to be a slight dip in his intensity—his hunger seemed diminished, his acceleration a bit slower, and his touch a little heavier. This subtle decline became a factor in the decision to sell Sterling to Chelsea at the end of that season for £47.5 million.

Sterling became the first significant signing for Chelsea under new owner Todd Boehly in the summer of 2022, with Thomas Tuchel still at the helm. The nature of the negotiations remains somewhat unclear, and one can only speculate about the vision sold to Sterling and his agent during the process. It’s safe to assume that neither party anticipated the chaos that would follow. Over the next two and a half years, Chelsea would make an astonishing 41 signings, including João Félix twice. Sterling’s debut at Chelsea was rocky, although he did score twice in a win against Leicester. However, his progress was hampered by the club's ongoing turmoil. After just a month, Tuchel was dismissed, and Chelsea embarked on a long, winding journey through multiple managerial changes, including Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, and Mauricio Pochettino, without any clear direction or vision