Dujon Henriques Sterling (born 24 October 1999) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

side Rangers. He started his career at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and had loans spells with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, Blackpool and Stoke City.

Club career

Chelsea

Sterling joined

in 2007 at under-8 level and made his under-19 debut in a

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

fixture against

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in December 2014. Although, recently Sterling has been deployed as a wing-back, he has also been played as a winger or

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and impressed during Chelsea's 2015–16 FA Youth Cup campaign, netting in both the semi-final and final. Following an impressive campaign, Sterling was promoted to the U23 squad for the 2016–17 season as a 16-year-old and became a key figure, featuring twenty-four times and scoring four goals. In October 2016, Sterling signed his first professional contract upon his 17th birthday. On 20 September 2017, Sterling made his Chelsea debut during their EFL Cup third round tie against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, replacing Davide Zappacosta for the final 14 minutes of the 5–1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Loan to Coventry City

On 27 June 2018, it was agreed that Sterling would join newly promoted

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

on a season-long loan.

Loan to Wigan Athletic

On 1 August 2019, Sterling joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a season-long loan deal.

Loan to Blackpool

On 31 August 2021, Sterling returned to the Championship with Blackpool on a season-long loan deal after he signed a two-year contract extension with Chelsea. He competed with Jordan Gabriel for the right-back berth, covered at left-back when injuries dictated, and made up part of a back three on occasion. He made 25 appearances for Blackpool in all competitions. He damaged his ankle ligaments in a match in early April 2022 and returned to Chelsea for treatment. His loan was kept active, however. At the end of the season, he posted on

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: "Big thanks to all the players, gaffer, coaches and staff for making my time at the club so positive." Chelsea manager

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Krumbach, Tuchel retired at age 25 after a chronic knee cartilage injury; in 2000, he b ...

was reportedly impressed with Sterling's season, and informed him to prepare for the pre-season schedule.

Loan to Stoke City

On 1 September 2022, Sterling joined Stoke City on loan for the 2022–23 season. Sterling made 28 appearances for Stoke as they finished in 16th position.

Rangers

On 30 May 2023, it was announced that Sterling had signed a four-year deal with Rangers.

International career

Sterling was born in England to Jamaican parents. Sterling has represented England from under-16 to under-20 level. He represented England Under-17 at the 2016 U-17 Euros and was included in the team of the tournament. In September 2016, Sterling made his debut for the England Under-19 team in a 1–1 draw against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In June 2017 he was selected to represent England at the

2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (66th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footbal ...

. Despite being 1–0 down at half time, Sterling netted a brace to allow England to defeat

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

2–1 in the final. He was subsequently named in the team of the tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

; Chelsea Reserves * FA Youth Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 * U18 Premier League: 2016–17

International

;England U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

Team of the Tournament:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

*
England profile
at

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Dujon 1999 births Living people Footballers from Islington (district) English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Chelsea F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent