16 September 2023 , 21:30
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Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has promised Raheem Sterling he’ll help get him back into the England fold in time for next summer’s Euro 2024 finals.
The winger was a surprise omission from Gareth Southgate’s group for the qualifier with Ukraine and the friendly in Scotland after starting the season in good form with Chelsea and sorting out the fitness issues which dogged him for much of his first campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino was as surprised as anyone that Sterling didn’t make the cut and he hopes he can continue his upward trajectory at Bournemouth today after getting booed by some Blues fans in the corresponding fixture last season.
Pochettino said: “He is motivated to perform here and help Chelsea. And, like all top players, after that he also wants to play for the national team. He is desperate to play for the national team. We were talking the day after and we said to him, ‘We are going to help you to earn your way back into the national team. You need to train, to keep going, playing well for your club and for sure the coach is going to see and you will have more possibility to join the national team’.
“I am happy for Raheem because he is smiling every day. If you had the opportunity to see him on Friday he was all smiles and happy. The objective for us is always to get the players to feel good. We are happy because he is a player with experience that can help the young guys to evolve, and if we can help the player to improve and be better and score goals and make assists, it’s much, much better for him and for the team.”
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Earlier this month, Pochettino said he ‘hated’ coming up against Sterling when he was manager of Southampton. He added: “Yes, and now I want to enjoy him, but we were suffering in previous seasons.
"During the international break we were at the training ground every day and some days we were suffering a little bit. He was doing really, really well and you can feel that he’s fit, ready to compete, to get to his level and improving. The last two weeks were important for him also moving forwards.”