Raheem Sterling 'was close to joining Real Madrid before Chelsea move'

The England international brought an end to his trophy-laden seven-year stay at Manchester City to link up with the West London club for a £50.5m fee in July.

Prior to making the move to Stamford Bridge, Sterling was frequently linked with a switch to La Liga while he struggled to earn regular starts under Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona and Real Madrid were both said to have been interested in striking a deal for the 27-year-old, with a loan deal thought to have been a possibility at one stage.

Sterling ultimately remained in the Premier League with Chelsea, where he has provided four goals and two assists in his first 16 matches under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.

However, AS now claims that Sterling could have ended up at the Bernabeu with Real Madrid, but rules over signing non-EU players scuppered a move for the Englishman.

La Liga rules stipulate that teams can only possess up to five non-EU players in their senior ranks, and only three can be named in a matchday squad.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were at their limit during the summer transfer window and thus were unable to sign players from outside of the EU, including Sterling.

The report claims that Real Madrid were offered the chance to sign Sterling but were ultimately forced to abandon their pursuit of the attacker before opening up more non-EU spots.

The Brazilian trio of Eder Militao, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior have all adopted dual nationality by becoming Spanish citizens, thus opening the door for Real Madrid to sign non-EU players in future windows.

Sterling was not the only former Man City attacker that Real were supposedly interested in over the summer, with Gabriel Jesus also on the radar of Blancos chiefs.

However, as was the case with the Chelsea man, Real could not find a space in the squad for the Brazilian, whose arrival would have exceeded their non-EU quota.

Jesus eventually signed for Arsenal in a £45m deal, but a recent report has claimed that Real Madrid are still interested in bringing him to the Bernabeu in the near future.

Real Madrid returned to the top of the La Liga table despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Girona on Sunday, with Vinicius Junior's 70th-minute opener being cancelled out by a Cristihan Stuani penalty 10 minutes from time.