Raheem Sterling's Chelsea exile, Man United transfer approach and Enzo Maresca stance

Raheem Sterling is out of sight and out of mind in Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca's head.

For the club, Sterling is the elephant in the room, earning £325,000-a-week to merely clock in and out at Cobham. Maresca appears comfortable about this situation, which should be no surprise as it's not his money. This situation would have been inconceivable when Sterling's £50million move to Stamford Bridge in 2022 was rubberstamped.

The four-time Premier League winner was Chelsea's joint top goalscorer in his debut campaign and was third to Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in his second season. After his public fallout with Maresca before the first Premier League match of last season and the less than productive loan spell with Arsenal which followed, Sterling is in the so-called Chelsea bomb squad.

According to the Telegraph, Sterling was reluctant to leave London, as he wanted to remain with his family. He is even more interwoven within the capital, as his eight-year-old son, Thiago, signed for the Arsenal academy at the end of May.

This would have been somewhat ironic, as the option to sign Sterling permanently was not taken up by the Gunners. This summer, Fulham, Crystal Palace, West Ham or Brentford did not put in an offer.

Few clubs would be able to afford his gargantuan wages and those who could either don't want to or are not fancied by Sterling. Last season, Manchester United were linked, but the lack of interest on Sterling's part prompted the Red Devils to pull their interest.

The Sun understands England manager Thomas Tuchel, who brought Sterling to Stamford Bridge, has not completely shut the door on the forward potentially playing for England again, but he has considerable ground to make up on the likes of Marcus Rashford, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon and many others.

Hell will likely freeze over before the cold shoulder Maresca has shown to Sterling thaws out. When asked about the winger before the 2-2 draw against Brentford, Maresca said: "They are Chelsea players, but at the moment they are training separately and the plan is to continue in this way.

"Since the season started, I haven't seen either of them. I haven't seen Axel or Raheem. They train at a different time and on a different pitch. I haven't seen them since the start of the season."

In brief, the situation is Sterling is reluctant to leave London, clubs in the capital don't want him and Maresca will not even lay his eyes on him, despite him being named in the Blues' Premier League squad. Chelsea went into this campaign hoping to compete with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.

A player of Sterling's experience would surely be useful, particularly to the likes of Jamie Gittens, who, just like the exiled forward, quickly became a star at the age of 17 and is now trying to fulfil the potential which became obvious so quickly.

At the age of 30, there would be time for Sterling to regain his fitness and at least be a strong squad player who can use his experience and leadership skills to ensure his younger counterparts are not slacking.

The thought of Sterling remaining on the fringes of Stamford Bridge until his deal expires in the summer of 2027 is a sad one. Considering his incredible career, it would be a disappointing bookend for one of England's finest ever wingers.

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