Arsenal "agreement done" on loan deal for Chelsea reject after winger exiled by Enzo Maresca

The England winger, 29, was told by new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca that he was not in his plans, and would not feature in his squad. Since then, the Blues have been offering up Sterling to any club that might want him.

Initial rumours today (August 30) indicated that he would join Manchester United, with Jadon Sancho heading in the other direction in a straight swap. But late into the day, a potential loan deal to Arsenal materialised and Sterling - who wanted to stay in London for the sake of not relocating his family - jumped at the opportunity. As previously reported by NationalWorld, Sterling ruled out a move to Saudi Arabia.

Posting on X, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says the agreement between the two clubs is “done”. The move sees Sterling link up once again with Mikel Arteta, who was the assistant manager at Manchester City when Sterling was a regular in their starting XI.

Arsenal have been selective with their transfer market moves this summer, bringing in defender Riccardo Calafiori earlier in the transfer window. Meanwhile Chelsea were offloading players at the eleventh hour, with the likes of Trevor Chalobah and Conor Gallagher having already headed out of the door.

Sterling is expected to be serving as back-up to Bukayo Saka, who was played relentlessly by manager Arteta last season - even while the winger was nursing an injury.