I was wrong to think Barkley was out of his depth at Chelsea – Garth Crooks

Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley is getting back to his best form according to football pundit Garth Crooks, who had previously labelled the former Everton man as “out of his depth”.

Barkley has started the season in sensational form for the Blues, who are still unbeaten after 10 games in the Premier League, currently sitting in second place.

The former Toffee was once again at his brilliant best as Chelsea defeated Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor Sunday afternoon, scoring one goal and providing two assists in an impressive away victory for Maurizio Sarri’s men.

Writing in his weekly BBC Sport column, Crooks admitted that his pre-judgements of Barkley’s tenure at Stamford Bridge were misguided now he is showing signs of transforming into a fantastic player for Chelsea.

Crooks wrote: “I honestly thought that Barkley was out of his depth when he went to Chelsea from Everton – but having seen the progress he has made this season under Sarri, I am inclined to change my mind.

“The ball for Alvaro Morata to score Chelsea’s opening goal was something out of the Zinedine Zidane portfolio.

“The England international is starting to look like the player I first saw taking teams apart at Everton.

“If he and Loftus-Cheek keep up their current form, Chelsea may save themselves a cool £100m.

Barkley’s season in numbers

After his return to fitness and the departure of former manager Antonio Conte, Barkley has been reintroduced to the regularity of Premier League football this season, which has seen his form and reputation rise game by game.

His Premier League form has seen him make nine appearances out of 10 games, scoring three goals and providing three assists.

An assist in one of his two Europa League games, plus outings at the Community Shield and in the Football League Cup suggest that the England international is highly regarded by Sarri and may stay in the starting XI for some time.

Barkley had such potential when he was at Everton but went through a period of injuries, underperformance, contract refusals and a transfer to England’s capital. It seems as if he may have put all of that behind him to totally concentrate on his football, which is proving to be more than effective.

READ MORE: Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: the winners and losers as Ross Barkley a€™s glorious form continues

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