Alan Shearer has lambasted Chelsea for their ‘very disrespectful’ treatment of Raheem Sterling in the wake of them suddenly freezing him out.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca told Sterling just two days before the season began that he should weigh up his options for a move.
On Sunday he was left to fester in the reserves as Chelsea fell to a 2-0 defeat by Manchester City and he has been training with a group of 13 outcasts away from the first team.
Shearer sees it as a cautionary tale for future arrivals at Stamford Bridge.
‘I’m not a big fan of what’s happened to Raheem Sterling, I think it’s very disrespectful,’ he told Betfair.
Alan Shearer has slammed Chelsea for their ‘very disrespectful’ treatment of Raheem Sterling
Sterling is training away from the first team and has been advised to leave by Enzo Maresca
He was pulled aside two days before the campaign began after being part of their pre-season
Shearer has warned prospective new players that they have ‘got to try and accept’ how Chelsea treat their stars
‘He may not have had a great season last season, which is fine, but there’s still a way to treat people and understand players’ needs. There’s a way to sell players.
‘It’s just bizarre what’s going on at Chelsea. You see the Conor Gallagher situation when he left on the plane to go to Atletico on the proviso someone else was coming over, they tried to sign the Samu Omorodion, but then that deal was off, and Gallagher then had to come back to Chelsea.
‘Suddenly, they don’t want a centre-forward, and they think, “okay, we’ll go back and see if we can do a deal with Joao Felix“, and Gallagher had to hang around until that deal was done before he could head back to Atletico.
‘In the meantime, Chelsea tell Raheem Sterling that he’s no longer wanted and he has to find himself a football club, which is fine, that’s the way it goes in football sometimes – a coach comes in and doesn’t fancy you, that happens.
‘But, telling someone two days before the season starts they are not going to be involved, and giving someone just over a week to find a football club, it’s very, very disrespectful. It’s not the right way to treat a professional.
‘That’s the way it is at Chelsea now though, the players must accept that, and the coach must accept that, because that’s what he’s taken on. Anyone that goes into that football club knows how it’s being…