Chelsea manager Graham Potter has opened up about Raheem Sterling‘s frame of mind after the English forward’s house was burgled earlier this month. The Blues’ head coach stated that the 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign had a positive impact on the 28-year-old winger.
Sterling’s house was robbed while he was away with the England squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Chelsea winger had to leave the national team in Qatar to be with his family in the UK as a result.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time the England international’s house has been targeted by burglars. Sterling’s mansion in Cheshire was robbed in 2018 by a convicted burglar named Thomas Mee, who reportedly stole around £500,000 worth of luxury goods, as per the Liverpool Echo.
Raheem Sterling has now returned to Chelsea training ahead of their Premier League return against Bournemouth. Potter explained the former Manchester City forward’s current predicament in a pre-match press conference and said (via Football.london):
“He’s good. I mean, as good as you can be. Sadly, it’s not the first time that it’s happened to him so he’s used to it – not used to it of course, but you understand what I mean. Again, nothing that we can do now but make sure he is as secure as possible with his family. That’s the most important thing.”
He added:
“I think the World Cup experience for him was positive. Speaking to him, he was positive about it, he enjoyed it but he’s come back just the like the rest and focused and looking forward to the game and knowing we can all do a little bit better, we can all perform better. We’re all itching to try to do that.”
Chelsea are currently ninth in the standings and will look to climb up the league table with a win in their clash against Bournemouth on 27 December.
Graham Potter shares thoughts on Raheem Sterling and Chelsea squad’s potential
The English boss believes Sterling and the Chelsea squad as a whole have the potential to perform at a higher level. The Blues have gone through a transitional period over the last few months and results have mixed.
Potter said (via the aforementioned outlet’s report):
“I think he’s probably, as a result of all of things that I’ve said, he’s come into a new team that have lost some key players over the summer, brought some new ones in the transfer window and then the manager changed. The team from a functioning perspective hasn’t functioned as well as I think it can and him along with all the players have suffered for that.”
“I think it would be wrong for me to say Raheem is at the absolute top of his game but he’s not the only one there. It’s my responsibility to help the team function better so that he can play better because he’s got the quality and he’s a top player.”
Over the summer, there was a change in ownership at the west London outfit. American businessman Todd Boehly purchased the club after former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government due to his ties to Russian President Vladamir Putin.
A busy transfer window saw important players like Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave Stamford Bridge, while multiple new signings were made, including Sterling. Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel’s sacking led to Potter’s appointment early in the 2022-23 season.
