The teams tracking Raheem Sterling won’t need to negotiate with Chelsea, as he and the team have mutually agreed to part ways after he had been frozen for months, making him a free agent and a potential target for Roma and Napoli, who have been searching for a winger, Calciomercato reports.

Azzurri director Giovanni Manna was quizzed by Sky about the Englishman before the Chelsea fixture (via Tuttomercatoweb).

“He’s very strong, but he hasn’t played in a long time. It’s not a that we talked with him during the summer, but it’d be difficult now. He still has important economic requests.”

Sterling was making €20M gross with Chelsea, so it’ll be a challenging pursuit for Napoli and Roma, even without the need to haggle a fee. Fulham, Crystal Palace, West Ham, and Brentford will be in the running unless a top team shows interest, The Mirror relays.

While the Partenopei seem to prefer a youngster, primarily Sporting CP’s Alisson Santos, the Giallorossi have zeroed in on Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Corriere dello Sport informs. He’s willing to take a pay cut relative to his €6.5M salary. However, the capital club wants him on loan and is reluctant to spend on veterans. Al-Shabab didn’t shut the door but aims to be compensated appropriately.

Our Take on Sterling, Napoli, and Roma

The Partenopei are a safer bet to chase after an experienced player, but they have to decide what they want to do after their UCL elimination and where to go tactically, as Romelu Lukaku is back and Frank Anguissa isn’t too far off, very quickly. He’s not a particularly palatable addition, given the figures at stake and his lack of conditioning.