Raheem Sterling's stance on Al Hilal transfer
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Raheem Sterling's stance on Al Hilal transfer
Raheem Sterling is linked with Saudi Pro League transfer
League leaders Al Hilal the club linked with Chelsea winger
Player's representatives have given their view on rumours
By Jamie Spencer
Feb 29, 2024
Raheem Sterling joined Chelsea in 2022
Raheem Sterling joined Chelsea in 2022 / Visionhaus/GettyImages
Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling does not appear to be interested in a rumoured transfer to the Saudi Pro League with 2024 champions elect Al Hilal.
Many of Europe's biggest names remain linked with moves to the beyond wealthy gulf nation, initially sparked by Cristiano Ronaldo's shock switch to Al Nassr at the end of 2022.
But Sterling appears reluctant. Fabrizio Romano has reported that his camp have "never engaged or discussed" a possible transfer to Al Hilal. The transfer specialist even quoted representatives as saying: "Raheem is as committed as ever to the Chelsea project."
After spending 12 years in the north west of England with Liverpool and Manchester City, former QPR academy starlet Sterling returned to London in 2022 to join Chelsea for just under £50m.
Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling hasn't been the player he was at Manchester City / Marc Atkins/GettyImages
He had won four Premier League titles with City, on top of several domestic cups, and even netted 31 times in all competitions during the 2019/20 season alone. But the 29-year-old has struggled to replicate that form with a Chelsea squad in considerable transition due to enormous player turnover.
Sterling has started the majority of Chelsea's Premier League game this season but has only found the net once in the competition since late November, albeit a crucial goal in a 1-1 draw against his former club. A drop in form and the growing importance of players like Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden has also seen his England place come under threat, with no call-up since the 2022 World Cup.
Even with Sterling's lack of interest, Saudi Pro League clubs are not going to dilute their ambition as the summer transfer window looms on the horizon. 90min understands that Saudi officials have compiled a list of 100 possible targets, including 20 'elite' players. Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne are top of that list, with a belief in Saudi Arabia that Salah in particular would be open to a move at some point. The Egyptian is out of contract at Liverpool in 2025.
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Marcus Rashford reveals turning down 'life-changing money' aged 11 to stay at Man Utd
Rival teams made big offers to a young Marcus Rashford
Joined Man Utd youth ranks at the age of seven in 2005
"I actually played two academy games for [another] club"
By Jamie Spencer
Feb 29, 2024
Marcus Rashford was determined to make it at Man Utd
Marcus Rashford was determined to make it at Man Utd / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages
Marcus Rashford has revealed that rival clubs offered his family "life-changing money" to join their academy over Manchester United, even playing a couple of games on trial for another team, but he refused to make it a permanent switch in order to pursue his childhood dream.
By the age of 26, Rashford has already played nearly 400 games for United, scoring 128 goals. But things could easily have worked out very differently had he taken a different decision 15 years ago.
"I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge," Rashford revealed in his honest piece for The Players' Tribune, part of 90min's parent company Minute Media.
"When I was about ten or 11 years old, I was getting a lot of attention, and we had all kinds of agents and clubs trying to pass things to the family. United still hadn't signed me to a scholarship, and people were offering all kinds of things.
"A few clubs offered us life-changing money. We'll buy the family a home, we'll put cars in your garage. We'll change your family's life. At the time, my mum was working as a cashier at Ladbrokes. My brother was working for AA. They had every right to tell me, 'Just take the deal.' But they knew my dream was to play for United, so they never ever pressured me.
"I don't know how many people know this, but I actually played two academy games for that one club to see how I liked it. I remember walking out of the dressing room and seeing my mum and my brothers, and they just asked me, 'What do you want to do? Stay or go?' I said, 'I want to go back to United.' That was it. We got back on the bus. We bet everything on ourselves – all our chips."
Rashford stopped short of naming which clubs were involved at that stage. But several years earlier at the age of seven he had spent a week training with Manchester City, having being spotted playing for the famous Manchester junior club Fletcher Moss Rangers. Liverpool and Everton were also believed to be keen on recruiting him around a similar time in 2005. But he wanted United.
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Stay up to date with the latest Manchester United news / Visionhaus / Getty Images
By the time he was 11 and receiving those life-changing offers from elsewhere, Rashford had already put in the hard yards with United.
"Imagine being five, six, seven years old and taking four different buses across town to get to training at The Cliff. It was two buses into town, then we had to walk through the city to get to the other bus out of town to get to Salford," he recalled.
"Even in the pouring rain. Nothing really good to eat. Training for hours with my mum sat there waiting for me, not knowing a thing about football, just doing it out of love. Then the same back home. Just to chase my dream of playing for United.
"And that's not me moaning. Not at all. I loved every second of it."
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