While it may be too early to judge Raheem Sterling on less than an hour at Feyenoord, there’s not much road ahead to play with.
The England forward hasn’t shone so far in his two substitute appearances in the Eredivisie, and Robin van Persie has already had to stand up for his new signing.
However, Van Persie may be the one who has to take the blame if this signing doesn’t work out.
There are only nine games left of the season for the Rotterdam side due to their cup exits and Champions League football is on the line.
It’s also increasingly becoming clear that Sterling may not reach peak fitness in such a timeline, given he hadn’t previously played since May 2025 with Arsenal.
Questions are now being asked less about the player and more about Van Persie’s decision making, given his ideas on the pitch aren’t exactly impressing either.
One such example of the media taking him to task is Mikos Gouka, the Feyenoord correspondent from leading Dutch outlet AD.
He takes a look at four different areas that this signing is impacting the team, saying of Sterling: “The euphoria surrounding the signing of 82-cap international has dissipated after two extremely poor substitute appearances.”
Regarding the supporters, he explains: “His arrival has had a detrimental effect on the club and its discontent, but his two substitute appearances have dampened the euphoria, and considerably so.
“Feyenoord says it has a plan in place to have “Raheem The Dream” in top form in the Feyenoord shirt in a few weeks. But especially at a club where fitness is such a sensitive topic, the fans are now thinking: seeing is believing.”
Raheem Sterling is more important than winning
Gouka then takes aim at ‘RVP’ continuing: “Van Persie has a plan for Sterling and sticks to it strictly, as was evident in FC Twente’s Grolsch Veste Stadium [where they lost 2-0].
“His substitution policy is tailored to Sterling. Feyenoord had After Gijs Smal’s injury, Enschede needed a left-footed left-back, but Jordan Bos had to remain in attack because Sterling would get half an hour of playing time, according to Van Persie.
“You could almost conclude, then, that the focus wasn’t on the result against FC Twente on Sunday, but on the Raheem Sterling project.”
He adds that his teammates have noticed preferential treatment, writing: “The Feyenoord players also see what the Dutch football public sees. Sterling hasn’t yet proven to add anything to Feyenoord’s game.
“The Feyenoord players consider Sterling “an open and nice guy.” But in football, admiration is short-lived when someone doesn’t perform, fit or not.”
Finally he looks internally at the impact of the signing on the Dutch media, and the backlash they’ve had for judging Sterling harshly.
He simply says: “Of course, journalists also understand that assessing a player individually is even more difficult when he’s in a team that sometimes seems clueless about how to combat an opponent. But Sterling isn’t fit.”
Van Persie told the media to give him six to eight weeks before making judgement, but by then the season’s almost over, and with a half-term contract, Sterling could be straight out the door without making an impact.
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