Sterling is not the first footballer to face a situation of this kind, and he will not be the last.
Aside from being sent off after coming on as a substitute, there are few more undignified moves in football than seeing a new signing’s designated number handed over.
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Raheem Sterling suffered precisely that snub last week when the Chelsea He removed the number 7 from the English winger, exiled him from the first team group and gave it to Pedro Neto, signed from Wolves.
Sterling is not the first player to face such a humiliation, and he probably won’t be the last, although given the perceived severity and potential ego-bruising ramifications of a senior player being subjected to such a professional slight, it is not a phenomenon that occurs with particular regularity in the game’s elite.
Here are some of the standout examples from recent years, along with a somewhat closer look at Sterling’s extraordinary exit from Stamford Bridge last month.
Sterling, who had already worn the number 7 in the Manchester City For seven seasons, he failed to bring his number of choice to the Chelsea why N’Golo Kante – I’m Not Afraid (Official Music Video) However, after Kanté left for Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023, the Blues’ number 7 shirt passed to Sterling, who wore it for one season at Stamford Bridge.
Unfortunately, a dip in form saw Sterling lose control of the shirt at the end of August after it was revealed that the 29-year-old England international had been left out of new manager Enzo Maresca’s plans for the 2024-25 campaign.
With the transfer deadline approaching and a crisis-ridden season ahead, Sterling was finally able to salvage the situation by securing a late loan move to London rivals Arsenal on the final day of the season, although the Gunners were unwilling to let Sterling off the hook as Bukayo Saka’s No.7, so the No.10 will have to do for the time being.
Cavani suffered the misfortune of having to give up his number 7 shirt in the Manchester United when such a Cristiano Ronaldo returned to his former stomping ground in August 2021, the number he had previously worn a decade earlier.
Edinson Cavani lost his number 7 shirt to Cristiano Ronaldo. Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images
With his CR7 brand still to be maintained, Ronaldo assumed his now familiar United No.7 shirt after Cavani agreed to step aside and take the vacant No.21 (previously worn by Daniel James) instead. This is despite Cavani having already worn the No.7 on the pitch earlier in the season, just prior to the return of prodigal son Ronaldo.
Sterling was not the only player in the Chelsea whose first-team credentials were revoked by the club in August; Chalobah They took away the number 14 to give it to the new one John Felix, who returned to the club permanently after a six-month loan in 2023.
Chalobah represented the Blues since his childhood and has been a regular presence in the first team for several years. However, a relatively ambitious transfer valuation meant the centre-back was unable to attract potential suitors during the summer and was instead demoted and relegated to a season in the development squad.
However, like Sterling, Chalobah was fortunate to escape, if only temporarily, just before the deadline passed, joining Crystal Palace on a season-long loan.
After leading the front of the Napoli in his historic Scudetto-winning season and proceeding to establish himself as one of the most prolific and in-demand strikers in European football, it was naturally assumed that a host of clubs would be lining up to sign the Nigerian international this summer.
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The opposite occurred, as proposals for transfers of large amounts of money from the Al Ahli y Chelsea failed, a turn of events that led to Napoli making the difficult decision to leave Osimhen out of their Serie A squad, with the relationship between the two parties described as “broken”.
Then, to make things clear, the board went and gave the No. 9 shirt of their title-winning hero to new signing Romelu Lukaku, who will wear it for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
With the transfer window now closed in Europe’s top leagues, Osimhen is set to join Turkish club Galatasaray on loan.
Things were rarely easy for Martial in it Manchester Unitedas the striker struggled to maintain form and/or fitness for a truly convincing period of time.
His fragile confidence must surely have taken a significant hit in the summer of 2016 when, after scoring just 11 league goals for the Premier League side, 20-year-old Martial was forced to step aside to make way for a veteran of the European football scene.
Sure enough, United had just secured the signature of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain with the cocky Swede announcing his own arrival by posting a large image of his new No.9 shirt on social media.
Zlatan played a pivotal role in United’s run to the Europa League final and finished as the club’s top scorer in the Premier League with 17 goals, and racked up 28 goals in all competitions. By way of comparison, Martial contributed just four league goals, while he was regularly in and out of Jose Mourinho’s starting XI throughout the campaign.
After failing to fully convince skeptics during his brief and indistinct stint as center forward for the Barcelona, Memphis was sidelined when veteran Polish striker and two-time European Golden Boot winner, Robert Lewandowskicame from the Bayern Munich before the 2022-23 season.
Depay had been wearing the No.9 shirt for Barca but it was decided that Lewandowski should automatically be given the number after being installed as the new Catalan attacking talisman, while his new Dutch colleague was demoted to No.14 before transferring to Atletico Madrid just six months later.
Gareth Bale
After finally falling into disgrace in the Real MadridBale was allowed to end his participation with Gales at Euro 2020 before returning to his former club, the Tottenham Hotspur, on loan for the 2020-21 season.
In his absence, Los Blancos wasted no time in stripping Bale of his No. 11 shirt at the Bernabeu and handing it to emerging talent Marco Asensio and later Brazilian winger Rodrygo, effective from the 2023-24 season following Asensio’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
Bale was assigned the number 18 shirt at Real Madrid upon his return, though he never got to wear it in style after making just a few brief appearances for the Spanish giants in the 2021-22 campaign. He then eventually retired and headed to MLS with LAFC for one final farewell before his retirement.
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