Raheem Sterling Completes Surprise Move to Feyenoord

Rotterdam: Former England international Raheem Sterling has joined Dutch club Feyenoord until the end of the season.

Sterling, 31, left Chelsea by mutual agreement last month and was released.

“As a free agent, I have the opportunity to control the next step of my career for the first time in a long time,” he said Thursday.

“I wanted to take the time to speak to clubs and their head coaches to better understand the role they envision for me and make sure I can add real value in the next chapter.”

Sterling has played for some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, and was on loan at Arsenal.

He won four Premier League titles with City.

However, his $56.5 million transfer to Chelsea in 2022 did not meet expectations and he played in only 81 matches and scored 19 goals.

Feyenoord is coached by former Arsenal, Manchester United and Dutch forward Robin van Persie.

“Naturally, managing to convince a player of Raheem’s caliber to sign with us is a fantastic achievement,” Van Persie said.

“His football CV speaks for itself: he is a player whose qualities can undoubtedly change the outcome of a match and I believe he will make a valuable contribution to the team as we look to achieve our goals in the second half of this season.”