Alan Shearer hits out at Chelsea for 'very disrespectful' treatment of one player

Alan Shearer has slammed Chelsea for the 'very disrespectful' way they have treated one of their players since Enzo Maresca's arrival at Stamford Bridge.

It has been a summer of change at the West London side, following Maresca's arrival from Leicester City after former boss Mauricio Pochettino departed following only one season in charge.

Since then, the club's policy of bringing in players on long-term contracts and lavish spending in the transfer market has continued, a trend which began after Todd Boehly became co-owner and chairman back in 2022, as Roman Abramovich's ownership of Chelsea came to an end.

One player who is among many to have lost out of late is Raheem Sterling, who has has three years remaining on his Chelsea contract after joining the London club from Manchester City in 2022 for a transfer fee of £47.5 million.

But there are question marks over Sterling's long-term Chelsea future after he was not involved in the club's matchday squad for the opening weekend Premier League 2-0 loss to City.

And this was compounded by a controversial statement from the player's camp released not long before kick-off of that encounter which criticised his non-involvement.

Released last Sunday afternoon, the statement read: "He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend's fixture in some capacity.

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"As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem's future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.

"Until then, we will continue to support Raheem's desire to start the new season positively."

Sterling is part of an incredibly bloated first team squad at Stamford Bridge which boasts more than 40 players.

It has become so vast that a group of players - including the likes of Sterling and Ben Chilwell - are among those training away from Maresca's main squad.

And former Newcastle United and England striker Shearer has taken aim at Chelsea over their 'disrespectful' treatment of Sterling, expanding on how he finds the whole squad turnaround and transfer dealings at Stamford Bridge 'bizarre'.

Speaking to Betfair, the Match of the Day pundit said: "I’m not a big fan of what’s happened to Raheem Sterling, I think it’s very disrespectful.

"He may not have had a great season last season, which is fine, but there’s still a way to treat people and understand players’ needs. There’s a way to sell players.

"It’s just bizarre what’s going on at Chelsea. You see the Conor Gallagher situation when he left on the plane to go to Atletico on the proviso someone else was coming over, they tried to sign the Samu Omorodion, but then that deal was off, and Gallagher then had to come back to Chelsea.

"Suddenly, they don’t want a centre-forward, and they think, 'okay, we’ll go back and see if we can do a deal with Joao Felix', and Gallagher had to hang around until that deal was done before he could head back to Atletico.

"In the meantime, Chelsea tell Raheem Sterling that he’s no longer wanted and he has to find himself a football club, which is fine, that’s the way it goes in football sometimes - a coach comes in and doesn’t fancy you, that happens.

"But, telling someone two days before the season starts they are not going to be involved, and giving someone just over a week to find a football club, it’s very, very disrespectful. It’s not the right way to treat a professional."