£300,000-a-week Chelsea star to snub Saudi Pro League in favour of Premier League trophies

Former Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling is determined to make a success of his depleting Chelsea career and reject any potential bids who could receive from the Saudi Pro League.

The 29-year-old faced heavy criticism from his own stands in his side's 4-2 FA Cup quarter-final win over Leicester after he missed a penalty, messed up a one-on-one chance and sent a free-kick over the bar.

This is not the first time Blues faithfuls have been critical of the England international following his £47.5m move from the Etihad in 2022 but it has been reported by The Standard that he is ready to snub any interest from elsewhere in order to continue fighting in winning the club's fanbase over.

The Stamford Bridge owner Todd Boehly, however, reportedly has other ideas with Football Insider writing that Sterling could well be part of the summer exodus as the club aims to raise sufficient funds.

The forward still has two-and-a-half years left on his contract and is reportedly happy at Stamford Bridge. The ex-Citizens star receives a wage of £300,000-a-week and Chelsea's potential asking price for the star would likely rule out any move to a fellow Premier League club. The Saudi Pro League has supposedly shown increasing interest in the 29-year-old but Sterling is ready to turn any offers down in a bid to win trophies with Chelsea.

Following his team's dramatic last minute win over Leicester, Sterling took to Instagram to apologise to the Chelsea fans, saying: "Apologies for the penalty miss. I'll be back ten times stronger to help the team win and continue to fight for the badge very singe day."

Cole Palmer, Ben Chilwell, Reece James were among several stars to offer their support and speaking to the press after the win, Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino said of Sterling: "We need to support him, he’s an amazing player. He has more than 10 years’ experience in the Premier League.

“Of course I think the contribution was good. He was a little bit unlucky with some actions where he should have scored, but we are a team and we need to be there for everyone. Fans are entitled to show their emotion. For us, we try to emphasise with our fans not to criticise. They want the best for our team and players, but we are in a project. We need support and to really believe. We are trying to build something.”

Chelsea will now face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on the weekend of 20 and 21 April.