Chelsea star Raheem Sterling has flown home from England’s World Cup camp after his home in London was the target of an armed robbery whilst he was away at the World Cup tournament in Qatar.
Gareth Southgate confirmed the 27-year-old’s exit ahead of England’s 3-0 win over Senegal in the round of 16 as the Three Lions now prepares to face reigning world champions, France.
The Chelsea star had played in the first two Group B games, scoring against Iran, before being replaced by Phil Foden in the last match against Wales.
Sterling was left out of the squad that won against the African champions due to a ‘family issue’ which has later been revealed to be an armed robbery at his home in the UK.
Southgate added that he wasn’t sure if the Chelsea winger would return to Qatar for the rest of the tournament, but has left the door open for Sterling should he feel ready to feature again at the World Cup.
Details have since emerged of the armed robbery and according to The Scottish Sun, Sterling’s fiancee Paige Milian raised the alarm when watches worth £300,000 were stolen.
The report added that police were at the 27-year-old’s home – near Chelsea’s Cobham training base – for a number of hours.
Sterling’s fiancee and children were inside the house at the time of the robbery with the England international now returning home to be with his family.
Jordan Henderson and Kalidou Koulibaly were among people inside the game to send messages of support to Sterling.
Henderson, who scored the opening goal for England against Senegal, said: “I hope everything’s okay with Raheem’s family at home.
I hope he goes back and he can sort everything out, and hopefully he can come back, but all our thoughts and support is with him.”
The English winger’s club teammate, Koulibaly, was told after the round of 16 clash about the robbery and sent his own message of support to Sterling. The Senegalese defender responded: “I really didn’t know, I’m really surprised.
“I hope his family is good. Now I will call him and see what happened to him, but I hope he will be good and his family is good.”
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
