Raheem Sterling joined Arsenal on a season-long loan from Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Ian Wright is confident Arsenal’s deadline-day agreement for Raheem Sterling will prove to be a ‘magnificent deal’ for the club.
Sterling was informed that he was not part of Enzo Maresca’s plans for the season ahead at Chelsea and went on to agree a season-long loan deal with the Gunners.
The 29-year-old England forward will hope the move marks a fresh start after two underwhelming years with Chelsea, in which he managed just 19 goals in 81 appearances.
After the temporary switch was confirmed, Sterling said he raring to go and ‘hungry’ for success under Mikel Arteta, who he previously worked with at Manchester City.
‘It is a perfect fit for myself to be at a football club like this, where you can see that hunger, that desire. Year on year, they are pushing and pushing and pushing. That is exactly how I am as a person,’ Sterling told Arsenal’s official website.
‘Each year you want to get better and do better than the previous year. Hopefully I can gel really well with the boys and get going.
‘It’s time to meet the boys, get settled in, and hopefully see some game time and make my mark.’
Sterling fell some way short of expectations in his opening two seasons at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Sterling’s arrival in north London has received a mixed reception among the Arsenal faithful, with some fans pointing to the attacker’s poor record over the last two seasons at Stamford Bridge.
However, legendary ex-Arsenal striker Wright believes his former club have brought in an excellent addition in Sterling, who he feels has a ‘point to prove’ in the Premier League.
‘I’m absolutely delighted with it, the way the deal has panned out,’ Wright said on the Wrighty’s House podcast.
‘Once I heard that Reiss Nelson… I first started to hear the sniffs around Ipswich. I thought to myself, for him, we’ll see how it goes. It seems like they’re getting a nice noise down there at Portman Road, which it is. It’s one of those old stadiums, a brilliant atmosphere.
Wright is hopeful Sterling can return to his best in Arsenal colours (Picture: Getty)
‘But when I heard Fulham for him I thought, “Yeah… I think Raheem is on his way”.
‘When you consider the deal, Raheem, the family doesn’t have to move, he’s got a point to prove, he knows the manager, ain’t got a problem with rotation playing, experience, winner.
‘That is a magnificent deal for us, a really good signing for us and for him at 29. Chelsea are paying the majority of the wages. It’s almost like it can’t get any better.
‘The only way it’s going to get any better is when he scores the winner against Tottenham. That’s when you think to yourself: “That is it! It’s meant to be!”. You know when you see a player in your shirt… he suits our shirt. He suits our shirt.’
It was a busy deadline day for Arsenal, with Eddie Nketiah moving south of the river to join Crystal Palace in a £30million deal.
‘I am happy for him because there’s a lot that he’s banking on himself, going on and being a success,’ Wright said on Nketiah’s transfer to Selhurst Park.
‘To either get Palace in a position where they can be challenging for Europe or he gets himself in a position where he can start garnering attention from the bigger clubs for him, one of those is probably his goal.
‘He’s got Adam Wharton, he’s got [Eberechi] Eze, he’s got people that can create for him.
‘I just feel that it’s a very, very good move for him and a move he had to make because he’s 25 now, it’s the perfect age for him to be playing week-in, week-out, get yourself in and around the England squad, score goals so you can start to show people exactly what you’re capable of.’
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