It sounds a bit crazy, but it's true: Feyenoord has relocated its training program abroad at short notice. The reason is a single, prominent new star signing: Raheem Sterling.
After terminating his contract with Chelsea at the end of January, Sterling signed a contract last week until the end of the season with the second-placed team in the Dutch Eredivisie.
To integrate him into the team as quickly as possible, the club has gotten creative.
Since Sterling does not yet have a valid work permit for the Netherlands, his new team is accommodating him. Quite literally.
Rotterdam's coach Robin van Persie has reportedly organized a training camp in Belgium specifically for Sterling, according to reports from the 'Mirror' and 'Spox'.
The coach explained: "This is allowed abroad. We are doing this for him, but I also want to work on the development of our team. We can exchange ideas well and do something fun together."
The lack of a work permit is not the only obstacle for the first appearance of the 31-year-old Englishman. "We will see week by week when he is fit for a game. It will take some time, but that seems logical to me since he hasn't played for six months," added van Persie. Sterling did not collect a single minute of play in the first half of the season at Chelsea.
So it will probably take a while before the Rotterdam transfer coup really pays off.
At least the first training session with the new team won't be long in coming - even if it initially takes place not in the Netherlands, but in Belgium.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.