Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling has agreed personal terms with Chelsea.
City sign Sterling from Liverpool In a £49m deal in 2015 he went on to score 131 goals in 339 games.
Should the deal go through, Sterling – who has capped 77 caps for England – would become Chelsea’s first major signing since then. It was taken over by a consortium Led by Todd Buhli this summer.
The deal is expected to be completed in time for Sterling to join Chelsea’s squad before they depart on their pre-season tour to the United States next week.
BBC Sport understands the decisions will be amicable between all parties, but Sterling wants a new challenge and has been impressed by the vision of Blues manager Thomas Tuchel and the role he has assigned to him.
Other big clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, were also interested in Sterling, but the player was influenced by Chelsea’s public and private desire to sign him.
City wanted Sterling to stay and have no ill feelings toward the club or coach Pep Guardiola.
However, he considers this the most important decade of his career and wants to play a pivotal role in a club that challenges all the major titles.
Sterling still has both team and professional goals he wants to achieve, including winning the Ballon d’Or.
Aside from the Manchester United players, only John Terry and former City teammate Fernandinho have won more than four Premier League titles.
However, he still won the Champions League.
Sterling sparked the conversation about his future with City and it is understood that he values the space he has had to make up his mind.
Sterling boosts Chelsea’s attacking options
Tuchel was looking to bolster his attacking ranks after Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter Milan on a season-long loan.
The Belgian striker was the Blues’ top scorer last season with 15 goals in all competitions, narrowly short of Kai Havertz (14) and Mason Mount (13).
Since Guardiola became coach in 2016, only Sergio Aguero (124) has scored more goals for City than Sterling (120).
Sterling scored 13 goals in 30 Premier League games last season, winning the league title for the fourth time, his ninth title in seven seasons with City.
But his chances were restricted Signed Jack Grealish last summer, Strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez arrived at the Etihad this summer.
Sterling was on the bench for Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final first leg defeat and the epic final of the season against Aston Villa.
However, he sparked that memorable comeback on the final day by scoring the crucial first goal for Ilkay Gundogan as City came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and beat Liverpool in the league title.
