Paul Merson: Raheem Sterling's Decision to Stay at Drama-Filled Chelsea Raises Concerns

Raheem Sterling appears to be on his way out of Chelsea's crowded squad, following Conor Gallagher's departure. The absence of Sterling in the opening-weekend loss to Man City was notable, especially as new signing Pedro Neto has been assigned his No. 7 jersey.

The four-time Premier League winner only joined Chelsea two years ago as a marquee arrival from Man City, but has now been frozen out at Stamford Bridge with manager Enzo Maresca saying he "prefers a different kind of winger".

That has not impressed pundit Paul Merson, who believes Sterling should be staying at Stamford Bridge - and believes anyone "with a pair of shin-pads" has a chance of being signed by the Blues on current form.

Chelsea need Sterling - something's not right

I find the Raheem Sterling one a real strange one. Raheem played in America and did well in pre-season. Raheem's been around a long time to read the situation and then all of a sudden, before the Man City game, he's not wanted anymore.

Maresca needs Sterling - he's one of their better players. He's not been great for Chelsea, but you're getting rid of someone better than a lot of other players in that squad.

It's not a good start so far. It's like a soap opera and that's the problem. It doesn't look good. Pochettino's walked away from a big club. In the end, he couldn't wait to get out of Chelsea. Something's not right.

There's a lot going on at Chelsea and the manager's got to hit the ground running. If he doesn't, the fans will soon get upset.

Raheem's got young kids. People forget about this. You hear people say: "He's on £300,000 a week, he'll be alright." But he's still got kids.

If he's not in London, he'll have to move his kids or live away from them. It could be a rushed one. He's not got long now before the window closes.

The Chilwell one, I'm not shocked. He hasn't been on the pitch long enough.

'Class' Gallagher should have stayed too

Conor Gallagher is class. The people looking after him have been class. He's been advised in the right way and looked after well. He's conducted himself well.

The agent's haven't pushed for the deal. Fair play to him and his family. They've set an example of how things should be done. Why are Chelsea getting rid of him? He played every game last season and he's better than what they've got already.

He's one of their own and people need to start understanding that. It's not baseball. I don't mean that in a horrible way but, in America, you can support a team and then get up the next morning and your team is the other side of the country.

It's not like that here. Fans appreciate players coming through, the hard work from signing at eight years of age and making your debut at 19, 20.

Felix is exciting, but he has to start well

I am excited. He's a good player, he's intelligent. But it was only two years ago he was leaving and wanting to go to Barcelona. It didn't work out at Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have got rid of him. If he can hit the ground running, then he's a top player, but he's got to work.

He's got to be playing around good footballers. People like Cole Palmer will love playing with him - they'll bounce off each other. But the Premier League is ruthless. It'll be interesting to see how he copes.

Why are Chelsea signing everyone?

At the moment, if you've got a pair of shin-pads then you've got a chance of being signed by Chelsea. That's not right. With these seven-year contracts... no one can tell me how good someone's going to be in six years.

Football's about now. Chelsea fans expect to win trophies and at the moment they're a million miles away from winning the Premier League. If they got in the top four, Maresca's looking at Manager of the Year.

Winning Conference League would help mask issues

Every Chelsea fan will want to win this one. They'll be the first team to win all the European trophies. I hope the manager sees that. This is a big tournament.

If you're not doing well in the league, you've got this tournament to fall back on. I expect Chelsea to go very deep, if they want to. But they will want to finish in the top four.