Raheem Sterling becomes Chelsea's first post-Abramovich signing

It's official, England winger Raheem Sterling has joined Chelsea from champions Manchester City in the first signing of new owner Todd Boehly's tenure.

The 27-year-old has penned a five-year contract with the London club, reportedly with the option of an additional year. It is also believed that Sterling's contract at Chelsea puts him on even higher wages than he was on with the Citizens.

In order to prize away the England star, who has scored double figures for City in each of his seven seasons, Chelsea have agreed to pay their Premier League rivals 53 million euros, with an additional 12 million in performance-related add-ons, taking the deal to a potential 65 million euros.

Sterling leaves Man City with a record of 131 goals in 339 games in all competitions.

With the Citizens, he has won the Premier League four times, in addition to the FA Cup once and the EFL Cup six times.

Last season, however, Sterling began to lose prominence in a City forward line burgeoning with talent.

With competition from Gabriel Jesus (who has since joined Arsenal), Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, he didn't play as many games as he would have liked.

Rumours about his future lying exit followed Sterling all season, although he still made a more than respectable contribution to City's title win, with 17 goals and nine assists in 47 appearances. Of those games, he 'only' started 32.

For City, more or less making their money back on a 27-year-old who was losing importance in the team looks like a good deal.

Undoubtedly, however, the departures of Sterling and Jesus weaken their depth, despite the arrival of Erling Haaland.

Sterling, who has joined up with his new teammates on their pre-season trip to Los Angeles, has spoken about the move as a sort of homecoming as he embarks upon this next chapter of his career.

"London is my home and where it all started for me, and it's amazing I now have the opportunity to play in front of friends and family week in, week out at Stamford Bridge. I'm really looking forward to meeting the fans there soon," said Sterling.

"I do want to take the opportunity to thank Todd, Behdad, the ownership group, Thomas, and all involved in the process of getting me here.

"I can't wait to get going now and continue to do my talking on the pitch."