London, Aug 23 (IANS): After Enzo Maresa and Chelsea FC confirmed that Raheem Sterling and a few other players who are not in the new head coach’s plans for the season, Crystal Palace have shown interest in signing the English forward with Aston Villa said to be involved.

With the transfer deadline approaching in a week, Chelsea face the seemingly impossible task of clearing out the dead weight in their squad. The likes of Sterling, Ben Chillwell, Axel Disasi Trevoh Chalobah, Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka may be on their way out of the West London club.

Crystal Palace want to sign a player of Sterling’s experience and given the urgency that Chelsea have to sell at the moment, a deal could be financially viable for Palace. However, Sterling is currently on a wage of 3,20,000 pound per week which is making Palace seriously consider whether they want to bring him on board as reported by the English newspaper, The Daily Mail.

Sterling was left out of Maresca’s squad to face Manchester City following which the player’s camp released a statement asking Chelsea FC for ‘clarity’ on his future. The player and the club have been in talks and it is said that the club has agreed that they will actively work on finding a deal that would see him depart the club.

“I try to be honest with all of them in this moment, the noise is from outside. More than 15 players are training apart, they are not with the team. I spoke with Raheem before (the) Manchester City (game). I said that he is going to struggle to get minutes with us. With Chilly, I said he is a lovely guy, but with his position, he’s going to struggle with us. It’s not brutal, it’s honest. I am not working with 42 players, I am working with 21 players. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside,” said Maresca to reporters.