Had events transpired differently, Raheem Sterling may have boarded a plane for Budapest in the colours of Arsenal on Thursday. Instead, he was driving his Lamborghini south on the M3, unemployed and on his way to difficulties of a new kind.
Time will tell on the precise circumstances that caused his alleged crash into a motorway barrier near the Minley Interchange. But Sterling’s arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, possession of a Class C substance and failing to produce a specimen is desperately troubling.
If there was any relief in the episode, which occurred shortly before 9am on Thursday, it was that no one was injured. Sterling was arrested and released on bail by Hampshire Police pending inquiries.
It will fall on the latter to determine what comes next for Sterling in the legal sense. But as a sporting entity, matters are even more precarious for a player who represented England at the 2022 World Cup and has spent the subsequent four years drifting ever further from sight, most recently in a criticism-stained stint in Holland.
Citing a source close to Sterling, the Telegraph reported after Thursday’s crash that the forward’s internal well-being has suffered for the speed with which he has fallen from the very top of the game.
Raheem Sterling was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs this week
Just five years ago Sterling as a star for England alongside Harry Kane but is now far from that
While the line between cause and effect rarely travels arrow-straight, it is known within football that Sterling, an introspective man and often misunderstood across his career, has struggled to reconcile himself with a decline that is as jarring as any at the elite end of British sport.
He would not be alone in that regard. At 31, he is younger than five men in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the World Cup, but the last of his 82 caps came two days after his 28th birthday. The time for courtesy calls when missing out on the national team passed long ago for Sterling, but he has nurtured hopes of plotting a way back to some level of prominence.
We know well enough what the steps on that journey have looked like – after Pep Guardiola’s decision to let him go following seven seasons in which Sterling was indispensable to Manchester City, he was lost to the dysfunctions of Chelsea for two mediocre seasons and then failed to make a fist of his loan at Arsenal in the 2024-25 campaign.
That wasn’t for a lack of trying, according to club sources. They once told the Mail on Sunday of Sterling’s fierce drive to make it work; that he was quiet at London Colney but a positive influence. It seemed at odds with performances that lacked intensity, much less any of the old quality, on the rare occasions he made it into Mikel Arteta’s side.
Injuries were not his obstacle at the Emirates Stadium – curiously for the spiral we have seen in his career, he has never had an overtly serious ailment – but he never found sufficient form to dislodge the gifted cast of wingers in Arteta’s squad.
Sterling may have boarded a plane for Budapest Arsenal colours if things were different
Having been so pivotal to Sterling’s development with one-on-one attention in his time coaching at City, the fear was that if Arteta could not fix him, then no one could. Was it a confidence issue? In truth, that most capricious of sporting commodities has appeared shot through ever since City picked their moment to sell in 2022.
There have been plenty of moments when Sterling has been criticised harshly, or even ludicrously, over the details of his life and game, dating right back to those glory days under Guardiola. But equally, he has left himself open in moments.
His exit from Liverpool to force the City move was ugly. An initial reluctance to move abroad from Chelsea also prolonged his inertia in cold storage, culminating in his stint in their bomb squad after the Arsenal loan didn’t coax a permanent move.
These mysteries were not limited to club football. It is possibly no coincidence that his time with England never survived beyond the 2022 World Cup, which he left early before returning either side of a burglary at home. Reports from police and Sterling’s spokesperson conflicted on the seemingly relevant fact of whether his family were at the property during the break-in.
What has never been in dispute is the talent of a player who, on his day, was capable of 200 goals for City and 10 major trophies. On the basis of an upbringing in which his father was murdered when Sterling was two, those heights will always stand as a spectacular success.
But we haven’t seen that bright-burning comet for some time. Signing for Feyenoord in February was a move of necessity, having spent months training away from the first-team squad at Chelsea earlier this season before they cut his deal in January. From there, Sterling needed something. Anything.
Upon arriving in Holland, he said: ‘As a free agent, I’ve had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step.
A move to Feyenoord has seen criticism of Sterling’s performances in Holland
‘I’m confident that Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team. Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me – and one I’m ready to embrace. Honestly, I’m just excited to get started.’
In Robin van Persie, he apparently had a manager willing to give what he needed – affection. Patience. And from there, all parties will have hoped confidence might return.
But criticism of his performances started early from outside the club and fans grew exasperated. Van Persie spoke up regularly for his man. ‘Personally, I struggle with the cynicism surrounding him,’ Van Persie said earlier this month. ‘I think respect is more appropriate.’
By the time Sterling’s short-term deal elapsed a fortnight ago, he had managed eight games and only four contributions went beyond an hour. His tallies for assists and yellow cards were tied at one-apiece, no goals scored.
Where will he go from here? Many who saw Sterling at his best will hope there is still opportunity for a better ending.
