Reason why West Ham rejected chance to sign Raheem Sterling – ‘One concern expressed’

Add as preferred source on Google

Raheem Sterling joined Arsenal from Chelsea on transfer deadline day amidst interest from West Ham United.

It was a huge surprise when Chelsea told Raheem Sterling in no uncertain terms that he had to leave Stamford Bridge, and West Ham were one club being touted to sign him.

In fact, Hammers News exclusively revealed earlier this summer that Todd Boehly had been speaking to West Ham about taking Raheem Sterling on loan.

At the time, the links seemed far-fetched, but as the transfer window rumbled on, it seemed as though the 29-year-old moving to the London Stadium was actually a realistic option.

In the end though, Julen Lopetegui bolstered his attacking ranks with the signings of Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug.

It was suggested that the West Ham head coach was so well-stocked in the attacking department that he didn’t actually need Sterling.

However, the real reason why the Hammers didn’t sign the English attacker has now come to light.

Reason why West Ham rejected chance to sign Raheem Sterling

The 29-year-old swapped Stamford Bridge for the Emirates in the end, but he could have moved to the London Stadium it seems.

Sterling was being offered around to pretty much every club in the Premier League by his representatives.

A move to Arsenal materialised in the end, but not until after the Hammers had knocked back the chance to bring him to East London.

So why didn’t we take a punt on Raheem?

According to a report from The Independent, West Ham rejected the chance to sign Raheem Sterling for one main reason.

“Both West Ham United and Crystal Palace had turned down the chance to sign him. One concern expressed within the Premier League was that, because Sterling has played so much football since the age of 17, his “physical age” is now much older than 29.”

I actually think it’s understandable for the powers that be at West Ham to be concerned about Sterling’s ‘physical age’.

That said, I still think he’ll be a hit with Arsenal.

Raheem Sterling career record

The 29-year-old has played an incredible 578 games combined for Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea so far in his career.

During those outings, Sterling has bagged a mightily impressive 181 goals and 113 assists, and he has scored 20 goals for his country as well.

The 82-capped England international is vastly experienced playing at the very highest level, and surely still has two or three years remaining before he’s past his prime.

As mentioned earlier though, I do think that West Ham United’s apparent concerns about Raheem Sterling were well-founded.

The only thing I don’t get is why we couldn’t have taken him on a season-long loan, paying Chelsea a small portion of his wages just like Arsenal are.

It would have been a minimal risk signing. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how he does with Arsenal before we can judge whether or not West Ham made a mistake in rejecting him.