Raheem Sterling wants to be the main man and Manchester City feel the time is right for this divorce

There is an element of risk with any transfer, which is perhaps why trading between the top four is so rare and why Raheem Sterling’s imminent switch to Chelsea is so fascinating.

Manchester City are allowing a prolific goalscorer to go to a rival, a player who has made the most appearances of anybody in teams picked by Pep Guardiola. Under his tutelage, Sterling has found the net 120 times in all competitions.

And when City have been at their scintillating best over the last seven years, it has often coincided with the forward scaling his personal peak, too. In Manchester, he grew into a global superstar.

Pep Guardiola will let Raheem Sterling move to Chelsea from Manchester City this summer 

The winger has often been at the heart of City’s success when they’re at their best

But around the Etihad Stadium this morning, as the finer details of this deal are ironed out, they will be thinking that the time is probably right for divorce.

Sterling communicated to the club’s hierarchy at the beginning of June that he wanted to have a look around to see what was available to him with just 12 months left on his contract.

City under Guardiola make a point of not blocking exits should a player’s agent present an acceptable offer. The Catalan does not want squad members who would rather be elsewhere.

With Sterling, there had been a sense earlier in the season that perhaps he was swaying towards extending his stay — particularly during a spell of six weeks around November when he recaptured form in a winning team.

Sterling wants to fulfil personal ambitions and is preparing for a move to Stamford Bridge

Yet watching on from the bench as the bigger games approached later in the campaign, especially in the Champions League, made up the 27-year-old’s mind.

Sterling wants to be the main man to achieve personal ambitions and he no longer felt that was possible at City. Sources said on Wednesday night that this is a clean slate, in reference to the racism he endured at Stamford Bridge in 2018, for which a fan was handed a lifetime ban by Chelsea. He would not be heading back south if he was uncomfortable.

On the surface this might appear riskier for City than it does Sterling, but the Premier League champions do not exactly panic in the market. They won another title without a recognised striker, after all.

Guardiola, alongside sporting director Txiki Begiristain, clearly believes that they possess enough in attacking areas to cope without Sterling — be it remaining with the six at their disposal or with an additional forward to come. The club have not definitively stated either way on whether they plan to replace him.

Riyad Mahrez will be first choice on the right side for Manchester City next term

This all makes for an intriguing year ahead for young Cole Palmer, whose impressive breakthrough season was curtailed by injury and led City to politely ask England’s Under 21s not to select him for last month’s qualifiers so he could fully recover.

As it stands, the 20-year-old will act as Riyad Mahrez’s understudy on the right, while new signing Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden can both operate out there too.

City supporters may just embrace the risk if it means Palmer — a homegrown product who joined the academy as a child — can flourish in a similar vein to Foden.

It was Sterling who helped Palmer more than most when he was promoted to the first team. He is about to do him another favour.