Official: Arsenal sign Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea

While he was being forced out the door, it seems highly unlikely that, until today, anyone expected the destination of Raheem Sterling to be to another London club. Whoever was on Wikipedia (that you too, Fabrizio? or Raheem himself?) updated his status even before the deal was announced, and now he will ply his trade for his now fourth club in England.

He was deemed surplus to requirements, likely because of his tendency to come inside from his natural winger position that does not fit into Maresca’s plans, and so he has been given a lifeline from Mikel Arteta to try to break into his lineup or challenge the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and their super-sub Leandro Trossard for minutes that he surely wasn’t getting at Chelsea.

However it works for them, having those wages off the books certainly works for us. The deal is too new for me to find any specifics and the club website seems to confirm nothing more than “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” with the full statement below.

Good luck or some such? Certainly he won’t be playing against his parent club, but let’s hope with equal certainty that, somehow, this loan gets him permanently off our books.