Raheem Sterling has no plans to end his loan spell at Arsenal early, despite the winger's lack of minutes under Mikel Arteta.
Sterling has made just two Premier League starts since joining Chelsea on loan from Arsenal last summer. They both returned in October and Sterling has largely had to settle for a place on the bench, with Arteta favoring the likes of Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri.
However, the Athletic reports that the possibility of Sterling returning to Chelsea next month 'has been ruled out'. The report states that the 30-year-old is 'fully focused on making an impact' in the second half of the season.
Arteta has previously insisted that Sterling's lack of playing time is not due to “tactical reasons” and he remains confident the winger can still play an important role for Arsenal. “There have been moments,” Arteta said earlier this month when asked about Sterling's situation.
“It has been tough and very difficult for me to accept that I have not given him more. If he has not started the games, 90 percent of the substitutions I make have to do with saving minutes or due to injuries or injuries.” avoid injuries.
“It's not tactical reasons. I would like him to play a lot more because I think he can influence the team in a very good way. He is very good in the dressing room and is absolutely desperate to play. He had a very important role, which had an impact on the players.” every match, and suddenly you're in this position for a while.
“Not only here, but also at Chelsea. So it is always very difficult and I feel a lot of sympathy for players when they are in this moment. Hopefully we can change that.”
Sterling is currently sidelined with a knee injury and Arteta has provided an update on his recovery. “He will be out for weeks,” Arteta revealed. “He will need some further tests tomorrow to understand the extent of the injury.
“It's his knee and we have to wait another 24 hours, but unfortunately he will be out for a while. We have to look internally at what we have and be creative, do another very good exercise.” [with Saka injured as well].
“How can we shape the team? How can we adapt to the circumstances and be different? We can't pretend to be the same. We will have to be different and try to find the best way to do that and be very competitive .” and win a lot of games.”
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