Former England winger Sterling joins Feyenoord

Raheem Sterling is headed to the Netherlands.

The former England winger has joined Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord as a free agent.

The 31-year-old Sterling’s contract with Chelsea was cancelled by mutual consent late last month.

‘As a free agent, I’ve had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step in my career,“ Sterling said in a statement. ”I wanted to take my time to speak with clubs and their head coaches to better understand the role they envisioned for me and ensure that I can add real value in this next chapter. Having spoken in great detail with CEO Dennis te Kloese and Robin, I’m confident that Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team. Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me - and one I’m ready to embrace. Honestly, I’m just excited to get started. To Feyenoord and particularly Robin and Dennis, thank you for your patience and professionalism as I navigated this process.”

This will mark the first time in the Kingston, Jamaica-born Sterling’s 15-year career that he will play outside of the Premier League. In 396 league appearances with Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, Sterling has 123 goals. He is 20th all-time in league history and 12th among English players.

“Naturally it’s a fantastic feat that we’ve managed to convince a player of Raheem’s calibre to sign with us,” Manchester United and Arsenal legend van Persie said. “His football resume speaks for itself: he’s a player whose qualities can change the outcome of a game without a doubt, and I am convinced he will turn out to be a valuable addition to the team as we work towards achieving our goals in the second half of this season.”

Internationally, Sterling was capped 82 times from 2012 to 2022, scoring 20 goals and appearing at three World Cups and two Euros.

Feyenoord currently sits second in the Eredivisie table, 17 points adrift of leaders PSV.