Raheem Sterling agrees personal terms with Chelsea as Blues race to seal £50m transfer by Saturday for pre-season tour
RAHEEM STERLING has agreed personal terms with Chelsea - and the Blues want him to complete his move in time to be on their pre-season flight to LA on Saturday.
As SunSport exclusively revealed last month, the Stamford Bridge outfit had made landing the Manchester City forward a top priority.
And Chelsea are now closing in on a £50million deal for the ex-Liverpool ace.
Personal terms have been agreed, with Sterling, 27, on the brink of ending his seven-year stint at the Etihad this summer.
And SunSport understands Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel – the main driver of this transfer – wants it wrapped up so Sterling can join the squad for their two-week trip to the States.
The West Londoners jet off to LA this weekend where they will be based at the UCLA Campus for a week before playing against Mexico’s Club America in Las Vegas.
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They then fly to Charlotte to face MLS outfit Charlotte FC and end their tour taking on Arsenal in Orlando.
City’s capture of Erling Haaland leaves Sterling surplus to requirements under Pep Guardiola.
And he is now set to replace £97.5m flop Romelu Lukaku after his Inter Milan return.
And Tuchel is desperate to quickly integrate Sterling into the squad as the first major signing of the Todd Boehly era following his £4.25bn takeover.
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This is the start of a busy window for American Boehly, who is trying to convince Tuchel to bring want-away Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge.
Leeds United winger Raphinha also remains an option to add to their firepower, despite Barcelona’s heavy interest.
Central defence is an area that needs strengthening after the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt has been eyed up, though the Dutch defender is said to be favouring a move to Bayern Munich.
Sterling City team-mate Nathan Ake has also been linked as Chelsea weigh up bringing him back to the club.