Vincent Kompany sends heartfelt message to Raheem Sterling as Chelsea snub continues

Vincent Kompany hopes that Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling can eventually "show the whole world what his quality is" as his difficult spell continues. The Bayern Munich boss was once team-mates with Sterling, who will not feature when the Blues play in Germany on Wednesday.

Kompany and Sterling were part of Manchester City's centurions in 2018 but are now on very different paths. Kompany is looking to build on last season's Bundesliga success with the Bavarians and continue their storied history on the European stage.

Chelsea, meanwhile, appear to be on the up under Enzo Maresca, but he has made a number of ruthless decisions.

One of those is to cast aside Sterling, whose future at Stamford Bridge appears to be over. He failed to secure a summer move and is now training away from the first-team at Cobham.

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Kompany sympathises with his fellow manager, insisting the juggling act is a challenge, but hopes that Sterling can eventually find an environment where he can thrive once again.

The Belgian said: "It’s a tough one because on the one hand I have a lot of respect for Enzo and my colleagues at Chelsea. I understand it’s not easy to make a decision as a coach. On the other hand, Raheem is one of my former teammates and that bond always remains.

"It’s funny because last year I had Leroy Sane here as well and those two were devastating in the Premier League when they were part of the team I was part of.

"The only thing I can hope at this age, because he’s still at a good age, is that he can turn it around and show the whole world what his quality is and eventually be in a situation where everything fits for him and he fits for where he is, and hopefully that can happen sometime soon for him and I wish him all the best."

It was when Kompany and Sterling were in the same team that the forward enjoyed some of his most impressive seasons. From 2017 to 2019 the now Chelsea man scored 48 times en route to winning the FWA Player of the Year.

His career has nosedived since leaving Manchester, though. He's struggled to have an impact at Chelsea, playing under a number of different managers. Last term he was sent out on loan to Arsenal but his minutes remained at a premium.

Maresca claimed there was no way back for Sterling and the other players sidelined at the Blues recently, admitting "since the start of the season, I haven’t seen them."

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