Raheem Sterling has suggested that a change to his diet ultimately led to his drop in form in his debut season at Chelsea.
The England international was Chelsea's first signing of the summer when he joined from Manchester City for £47.5m, but despite arriving with lofty expectations, Sterling contributed just six Premier League goals - his lowest return since his breakthrough season with Liverpool ten years ago.
Sterling also managed just 28 appearances - another ten-year low for the winger - as hamstring problems limited his involvement.
Asked for an explanation, Sterling admitted a gamble taken on his diet ultimately backfired.
"In the season I changed a bit of my diet and went to do something a little bit different that I had not done before," he began. "And I had a little bit more KG on me that I have not had before. I think probably carrying a little bit of extra weight, I had a few hamstring problems and that was it.
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"Towards the end of the season the hamstring was playing up again. Me and the manager made a decision together that the best thing for me to do was to get the hamstring right."
Sterling, who admitted he is now 'just eating a little bit less', later insisted his fitness problems are now behind him.
"Yeah I am just working," he added. "Preseason is always a way to get the body right and I am in a great place."
Sterling managed 45 minutes of action in Chelsea's 5-0 drubbing of Wrexham earlier this week and will hope to see more minutes when the Blues face off against Brighton on Sunday morning.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Raheem Sterling offers explanation for poor debut Chelsea season.
