Raheem Sterling (£10.0m) is at his cheapest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) starting price since 2017/18.
The England winger should stand a better chance of more sustained game-time this season, too, after Chelsea snapped him up in a £47m move from Manchester City.
The 27-year-old becomes the Blues’ first major signing since they were taken over by a consortium led by Todd Boehly this summer.
Prior to his move, Sterling was sitting in just 3.8% of FPL squads. Can he now enter the thinking as a ‘cheaper’ third premium asset in our Fantasy teams?
We assess the new Chelsea winger in our Moving Target report.
RAHEEM STERLING: FPL HISTORY
| Season | Team | Starts (sub appearances) | Goals | Assists | FPL points |
| 2021/22 | Man City | 23 (7) | 13 | 7 | 163 |
| 2020/21 | Man City | 28 (3) | 10 | 9 | 154 |
| 2019/20 | Man City | 30 (3) | 20 | 6 | 204 |
| 2018/19 | Man City | 31 (3) | 17 | 15 | 234 |
| 2017/18 | Man City | 29 (4) | 18 | 17 | 229 |
| 2016/17 | Man City | 29 (4) | 7 | 14 | 149 |
| 2015/16 | Man City | 23 (8) | 6 | 3 | 96 |
| 2014/15 | Liverpool | 34 (1) | 7 | 10 | 158 |
| 2013/14 | Liverpool | 24 (9) | 9 | 7 | 132 |
| 2012/13 | Liverpool | 19 (5) | 2 | 6 | 82 |
| 2011/12 | Liverpool | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Born in Jamaica, Sterling moved to London aged seven and was developed at Queens Park Rangers’ academy before Liverpool prised him away in February 2010.
The youngster made his debut against Wigan Athletic as a 17-year-old in March 2012 and went on to be given a prominent role in the team by Brendan Rodgers soon after. However, it was the latter half of 2013/14 when he kicked on, with a series of outstanding performances that helped Liverpool achieve a second-place finish in the Premier League.
Sterling played one more season on Merseyside before he opted for a fresh start at Man City in the summer of 2015, where he has spent the last seven seasons.
Joining for an initial £44m, he went on to score 131 goals in 339 games, winning four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three League Cups.
Of those goals, 78 have been registered in 161 top-flight appearances over the last five seasons: only three players – Mohamed Salah (£13.0m), Harry Kane (£11.5m) and Jamie Vardy (£9.5m) – have been more prolific over that period.
Sterling scored 13 goals in 30 Premier League appearances in 2021/22, but he has undoubtedly slipped down the pecking order at City over the last few years, with his minutes slowly reduced and opportunities to influence the biggest games limited.
| Season | Starts | Subbed on | Mins played | Mins per appearance |
| 2021/22 | 23 | 7 | 2,158 | 71.9 |
| 2020/21 | 28 | 3 | 2,547 | 82.2 |
| 2019/20 | 30 | 3 | 2,665 | 80.8 |
| 2018/19 | 31 | 3 | 2,793 | 82.1 |
| 2017/18 | 29 | 4 | 2,609 | 79.1 |
| 2016/17 | 29 | 4 | 2,531 | 76.7 |
| 2015/16 | 23 | 8 | 1,958 | 63.2 |
After playing 2,793 Premier League minutes in 2018/19, Sterling’s total has dropped year-on-year for the three seasons since, while forwards Erling Haaland (£11.5m) and Julian Alvarez (£6.5m) have arrived at the Etihad Stadium this summer.
That perhaps suggests that Sterling is a declining force, but his expected goal (xG) data confirms he still has plenty to offer.
| Season | Goals | xG | xG delta | Mins per xG |
| 2021/22 | 13 | 14.41 | -1.41 | 149.8 |
| 2020/21 | 10 | 11.08 | -1.08 | 229.9 |
| 2019/20 | 20 | 19.09 | +0.91 | 139.6 |
| 2018/19 | 17 | 13.70 | +3.30 | 203.9 |
| 2017/18 | 18 | 16.25 | +1.75 | 160.6 |
The shot locations he roots out are also worth touching on: Sterling registered 13 efforts inside the six-yard box last season – only Diogo Jota (£9.0m) and Tomas Soucek (£5.5m) managed more – while his xG per shot of 0.23 meant than an average shot of his had a 23% chance of finding the net. For context, Son Heung-min (12.0m) and Salah’s tallies were 0.19 and 0.15 respectively.
It is worth noting, however, that while the quality of chances that fall his way are generally excellent, he isn’t quite a top-level finisher. Son, for example, has exceeded his xG tally by a combined +22.57 over the last five seasons; Sterling has overachieved by a mere +3.47.
RAHEEM STERLING: FPL PROSPECTS FOR 2022/23
