Raheem Sterling rejected a huge offer from Saudi Arabia in order to seal a move to Arsenal on transfer deadline day, according to reports.
The Gunners signed David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino in permanent deals over the summer, while Neto and Sterling arrived on loan deals from Bournemouth and Chelsea respectively.
That concluded a solid transfer window for , who added quality to an already good squad under Mikel Arteta, and Sterling is likely to add more goal contributions to the north London side this season.
The deal seemed unlikely to happen at one point on deadline day before quickly accelerating to a conclusion .
that Sterling rejected a stunning £650,000-a-week offer from Saudi Arabia to join Arsenal on loan from Chelsea .
That works out at £33.8m a year and the incredible package would have more than doubled his current £300,000-a-week salary at Stamford Bridge.
The report added:
Mirror Football can now reveal he rejected the Saudi interest two days before talks had even been opened between Chelsea and Arsenal. Events began to escalate at the start of last week 10 days after new Blues boss Enzo Maresca had made it clear, publicly and privately, that Sterling would never play for the club again.
The Mirror continued:
The interest from Saudi club which remains unnamed was put to him by Chelsea on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. But there are suggestions that the club had courted Middle East interest long before then. Nonetheless, Sterling dug his heels in and refused to be forced into a move that would have been perceived as him giving up on his England career.
A delighted Sterling said of his move to Arsenal: It s an unbelievable feeling. It s really exciting. It [the move] is one where we kind of left it late, but it s one I was hoping for.
Looking at everything, I m just, like, this is a perfect fit for me , and I m super happy that we got it over the line.
MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365…
👉
👉
👉
Sterling added: I spoke with [sporting director] Edu and I said you can see the real togetherness from Mikel s time here and you see the journey the boys are on.
You can see the hunger, and I keep saying again, the togetherness is something I m looking to be a part of.
Arsenal boss Arteta was also very happy to get the deal done on deadline day and insists the deal is a big step up for the Gunners.
We are very happy with what we have done and now we will focus on the match, Arteta told TNT Sports ahead of their match with Brighton. We know his qualities, it’s a big step up for us, we have brought a player with a top talent and plenty of experience that hopefully is going to impact the team in a positive way.
