Raheem Sterling can’t be blamed if he retires – He’s been an amazing success

Raheem Sterling has been told that the best thing for him would be a pre-season – but if he decides to retire, then he can’t be blamed.

That is the opinion of European football expert Andy Brassell, who has a lot of sympathy for the situation the winger finds himself in.

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Sterling had hoped to revitalise his playing career at Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, having been released by Chelsea at the end of January.

He had been the Blues’ highest-paid star since joining in 2022, but hadn’t made a competitive appearance for the club since May 2024.

The 31-year-old endured a stop-start loan at Arsenal last season, scoring just once in 28 matches before returning to Stamford Bridge.

Sterling was then banished from Chelsea’s first-team training as part of their ‘bomb squad’ for the first six months of the campaign.

Around 18 clubs made enquiries into Sterling after his west London exit before Robin van Persie‘s Feyenoord won the race to sign him.

Raheem Sterling stats at Feyenoord

He has managed only 349 minutes of league action at De club aan de Maas, registering just one assist while he is yet to score a single goal.

Sterling was again an unused substitute in Feyenoord’s 1-1 draw with AZ Alkmaar on Sunday, the third time in the club’s past four matches that he has failed to play a single minute.

It has been a statement call from ex-Man United and Arsenal star Van Persie, who has seen his own future come under intense scrutiny.

Asked whether it is now a given that Sterling, who only agreed a six-month deal at Feyenoord, will be looking to leave Rotterdam, Brassell told talkSPORT: “Well, we say that, but I just don’t know what the future is for Raheem Sterling if he doesn’t stay.

Best thing Sterling needs is pre-season

“So much of it depends on whether Robin van Persie stays at Feyenoord and where they go from next season,” Brassell added.

“Can they extend the contract? Do they really want to extend the contract, as you’ve sort of alluded to?

“But I know no one wants to hear this mid-season. No one wants to hear this involving a big name, and no one wants to hear this involving a big club. But the fact is, what do people expect? He hasn’t played for really meaningful minutes for a couple of seasons.

So even at Eredivisie level, when we know that Raheem Sterling is a player who’s been more than capable in the Premier League and international level over the years, it was always going to be difficult for him to get to the pitch, to get to the pace mid-season.

“The best thing he needs for himself, whether it’s at Feyenoord or anywhere else, is a pre-season.

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“So he starts next season on the same level or as close as can possibly be with the guys who are around him.

“Feyenoord are at this point of the season, they’ve been at this point of the season where they needed to secure Champions League football, which they have done now.

“It was absolutely vital for them to get into those play-offs. So really,I have a lot of sympathy for Raheem Sterling.

“Of course, because the name is so big, I think Feyenoord fans in De Kuip, and I guess Dutch football in general, are expecting something pretty big from him. But I think you saw from the beginning, he can’t burst past players like he used to.

“You think of someone who would change the pace of games for England, who would cut a game open for England. And for Manchester City, it’s been a long time since he’s been that player.

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“So maybe he can get back to that, maybe he can’t. But I think he needs a pre-season at least.

“He also needs, I think, a bit of a rethink about what the key parts of his game are in the meantime.

“And I think to be chucked into a pressurised situation where Van Persie was under a load of pressure, as you said, and really needed it to work from the off.

“To be chucked into that situation was really difficult. There is no ideal situation when you’re an elite-level player who hasn’t played football to any sort of meaningful level for a couple of years.

“But I’m really hopeful he does get that pre-season, and he does get to go somewhere, whether it’s Feyenoord or somewhere else, to find out what’s really in there.”

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Whether Sterling would be afforded a second chance by the Dutch media should he choose to stay at Feyenoord is another question.

Former Netherlands international Jan Everse called him ‘the biggest failure in our history’, while others have claimed he would be ‘better off playing in the veterans’ team’.

However, the fact remains that Sterling is an 82-cap England international who has been playing elite-level football since age 16.

The four-time Premier League winner turns 32 in December, the same age that Eden Hazard called time on his career in 2023.

Borussia Dortmund’s Niklas Sule has become the latest young retiree by choosing to hang up his boots at 30-years-old this summer.

And Brassell argued that Sterling couldn’t be blamed at all if he decides, like the German defender, that enough is enough.

Sterling’s career, whatever happens next, has been an amazing success

Brassell explained to talkSPORT.com: “We’ve seen, especially with the Niklas Sule thing, with him retiring at 30, that sometimes fairness is not always part of the fan and media reception. It’s really tough.

“Especially when you’ve previously hit huge heights, and you’re expected to get up to that sort of level again. Elite-level football is not great for patience anyway.

“I just wonder, maybe, whether it’s in the Netherlands or somewhere else, maybe a club that wasn’t challenging for trophies would be the best spot for [Sterling] at the moment.

“Whether he can mentally adjust to that, I think, is a viable question because he’s been a guy who’s played big matches for big things throughout his entire career.

“And maybe, I don’t know, like Niklas Sule, he just decides, ‘I can’t do this, it’s too hard.’ And I don’t think you blame him for that.

“His career, whatever happens next, has been an amazing success, and he’s done brilliantly. So, look, only he can decide that.

“But there would be a lot of demand and expectation on him for him to get it right all over again from the Dutch media if he were to stay.”