Chelsea star must use Arsenal Premier League predicament to salvage summer transfer - opinion

Arsenal may have six Premier League fixtures remaining this season, starting with a trip to strugglers Ipswich Town this afternoon, but there can be no denying that the Gunners’ full attention will remain on the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta’s side have fallen well away from the top flight title race since the turn of the New Year, which has been bitterly disappointing at the Emirates Stadium. However, should the club lift a first ever Champions League trophy, that performance will be largely forgotten.

The Gunners were underdogs going into the quarter final with Real Madrid but, having gotten the better of the 15-time winners and holders, belief that the London club could win the whole thing has skyrocketed. There’s the small matter of Paris Saint-Germain in the semi final before either Barcelona or Inter Milan in the final.

Arsenal to focus on Champions League success

That means, that in a somewhat strange turn of events, the Premier League run-in is a second priority for Arsenal. It’s now confirmed that all of the top five will get into the Champions League next season and the Gunners face bottom half sides Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace and Southampton before the end of the campaign.

Arteta will be keen to keep momentum going in the league but will surely prioritise his squad selection for the Champions League. The Spaniard’s side has suffered with a plague of injuries this season and risking more of those without great cause could be foolish.

As such, Arsenal first team stars who struggle for a space in the starting XI may be afforded greater minutes in the top flight. One of those is Raheem Sterling.

Raheem Sterling must step up to the plate

The winger is on loan at the Emirates Stadium from Chelsea, having been frozen out of the squad by Enzo Maresca last summer. The switch to Arsenal gave the forward chance of Premier League revival and the potential to convince the club to sign him permanently.

So far, he has not done that. Sterling has just one goal for Arsenal in 999 minutes of football and, even for a lowly transfer fee, that form is not worth an investment. The player must seize the imminent opportunities coming his way.

The only way that Sterling can resurrect a potential permanent switch to Arsenal come the end of the campaign is to finish the season in startling form. With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out injured he will, at times, be asked to lead the line and must make the most of those chances to save his career.

Speaking after picking up two assists in the 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven, Sterling demonstrated that he still has the confidence to do exactly that. He said: “It was a decent performance by myself. I know what I’m capable of. You have to wait for your moment.

“I am confident I still have a big part to play. I haven’t had as many minutes as I would like but it’s up to me to keep knocking at the door. Whether it’s 10 minutes 20, 45 or a start I’ve just got to be ready. It was nice to be out there and contribute to the team. I wanted to play my game, be dynamic. Sometimes you need that rhythm and tonight [I thought I found it].

“When you have a leader like we do as a manager, the boys are a tight-knit group. I could feel it when I got here that we had a top team mentality. I’m not physically knocking at [Mikel Arteta’s] door but on the training field I keep trying to push and get in his thought processes.”

Arsenal and Chelsea managers on Sterling

While Arteta won’t have been convinced that Sterling has a long term future at the Emirates yet, the manager has spoken positively about the player. In a motivational message, when asked if Sterling would be important for the run-in, Arteta said: "He has to have it because we really need him. Raheem is so experienced, and like many other players, we know that what you did yesterday is not whether it was really good or not. That could be relevant to the next game, to the next action. He’s fully focused, he’s trained really well this week, and he is ready to go again.

"We are all behind him, we want the best for him and it is important that we need his best. We need players only with that mindset, to impact the team. He is doing everything that he possibly can to make it work."

And what if Sterling fails to take his imminent chances? He’ll be stuck in purgatory back at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca was ruthless last summer when booting the winger out of his plans. Bluntly, he said: "I'm not saying Raheem is not a good player but I prefer a different kind of winger."

Later, he doubled down and added: "Brutal? I don't think so. I try to be honest. I can repeat again if it's not clear: I spoke with Raheem before the City game. I said he is going to struggle to get minutes with us and this is the reason why he is out of the squad.”

In other news, Arsenal fans won't be happy with Premier League referee announcement for Ipswich Town.