Chelsea are “now confident” that they can agree a deal to sign Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.

The Sky Sport Italia reporter says that the 27-year-old, who has been capped 77 times by England, could be available for as little as £35m this summer:

Update: @ChelseaFC are now confident to close #Sterling deal from @ManCity. Transfer fee could be around £35millions. 🔵 #CFC
Details 👉 https://t.co/aaH9JivdLP 👈 pic.twitter.com/9BYsVDuyLW

— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) June 19, 2022

An important note about Di Marzio’s story. Reporter Nathan Gissing, who co-wrote the piece, has distanced himself from the £35m figure:

TBC: The fee information on Raheem Sterling and Chelsea is from Gianluca Di Marzio and not me. 🔵🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 https://t.co/KAAKfuP1K8

— Nathan Gissing (@Nathan_Gissing) June 19, 2022

It’s a pretty low sum, and the majority of news outlets in the UK claim that City may hold out for a fee close to double the quoted price, at around £60m, so supporters shouldn’t be getting their hopes up about a deal for Sterling being close.

From the looks of things, the England international is now ahead of Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele in terms of priorities. Even though the Frenchman is available on a free transfer, Di Marzio and Gissing believe his injury record has given the Blues major reservations about signing him.