Burnley amongst the frontrunners to land 28-year-old Chelsea star

Burnley are one of the favourites to land Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley

According to Yorkshire Evening Post, Burnley have emerged as one of the leading teams to sign Chelsea star Ross Barkley. 

The Englishman has experienced a severe drop in his performances of late. The 28-year-old has only featured in 11 matches across all competitions, and has failed to break into Tuchel’s plans. The German manager gave him a few starts, but his inability to strike a chord has seen the manager drop down the pecking order.

The British midfielder’s most recent outing was against Everton, where he was substituted after failing to give a convincing performance. That has more often than not been a testament to his time at Stamford Bridge.

The lack of game time has attracted a lot of speculation on Barkley’s Chelsea future. Recently, the former Everton player has been linked with several clubs, with Newcastle United among the front runners. But it is believed that Burnley have now emerged as the ‘second favourites‘ to lure the midfielder. Former side Everton also continues to keep tabs.

Chelsea have struggled with their midfield this season. First choice midfielders N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić were sidelined for an extended period due to injury. Even though Kai Havertz and Mason Mount were available, the German manager had to use them in the forward position to cover up the absence of key forwards. 

Thomas Tuchel did have Saúl Ñíguez and Ross Barkley but neither were not up to the task. In comparison, Hakim Ziyech has also failed to set the pulses racing. Thus the manager had to use defensive players in the midfield, and in the recent game, he used academy graduate Xavier Simons for the role. 

Even though Barkley was available, the manager didn’t pick him during the Carabao Cup quarter-final. This suggests that the former Dortmund manager has lost confidence in him. It will be better for both parties to part ways in the upcoming winter transfer window.

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With Barkley failing to impress, there is little reason for the Blues to keep hold of him. Cashing in for him in January and then reinvesting the amount in bringing in new players would be a better approach.