Raheem Sterling, who was acquired by Chelsea from Manchester City for 56.2 million euros (about $57.9 million) during the summer transfer window, has revealed why he decided to leave the Etihad Stadium: he wasn't playing regularly enough.

"The move came about, like anything as a person you strive to achieve, and I just felt my time at City was getting limited on playing time for different reasons," Sterling said. "I couldn't afford to waste that time. So I needed to keep that same level and a fresh challenge. It's something that since 17 I'd been a regular starting, so to get to a peak time in my career, not to play regularly is something I wouldn't accept."

"My personality is to try to fight and change the scenario, but it didn't happen and that's it," he added. "This was the option that was tailor-made to my personal goals, and with my family as well, and the direction the club is going in."

Sterling made his name in the Premier League at Liverpool, with 23 goals and 25 assists in 129 games. City landed him in 2015 for 63.7 million euros (about $65.6 million). Having made 339 appearances in seven seasons for the club, Sterling registered 131 goals and 95 assists, helping City win four Premier League titles and one FA Cup.

Chelsea, who have lost forwards Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku this summer, need Sterling to fill in and play the attacking role. Sterling was born in Jamaica and raised in London. "It does feel like coming home, coming back to London; it's been a long time that I've been away, since about 14 or 15," he said.

"I feel like my whole journey, going up to Liverpool, Manchester, playing at City, and living the dream – now I'm coming back to London as a grown adult," he added. "I've been in the football game a while now, I've got my head on my shoulders and I know exactly what I want from my life and football. So it's the perfect time to come back."

Thomas Tuchel finished his second season as Chelsea manager without winning a trophy in the 2021-22 campaign. It was not easy for him to help the team finish third with all the distractions the club had to go through, including Roman Abramovich having to sell the ownership of "The Blues."

"I think he [Tuchel] said to me it's my directness, always threatening in behind, not always wanting it in to feet and going in behind," Sterling said. "But most importantly it's how I attack the box and with the full-backs that we have here, he said that's the one thing he wants to see a lot more, so that was the conversation there."

Chelsea defeated Everton 1-0 in their first game of the 2022-23 Premier League season. They will host Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.