“Are Chelsea just trying to overload themselves with similar players?” – Craig Burley says Blues signing target ‘won’t answer all questions’ 

Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has questioned the Blues' decision to pursue Raheem Sterling this summer.

The Manchester City forward has emerged as a shock transfer target for the Stamford Bridge outfit (via BBC Sport).

However, Burley believes Chelsea have more pressing concerns to address in their squad.

The 50-year-old spoke to ESPN and stated that the Blues are still some players short of the level required to compete at the top of the Premier League. He said:

“If this deal does happen, are Chelsea just trying to overload themselves with similar players? I know he can play across the front line but so can Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech to an extent, Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount. Timo Werner is a striker but he plays predominantly on the left side."

Burley added:

“It just adds to the five or six players they’ve already got that can do similar things. Now can he do it better? He has done recently - but he’s been playing in a much better side. That helps. It won’t answer all the questions, this would be one piece of a jigsaw that’s still missing three or four pieces before they’re even close to City and Liverpool.”

Sterling has just one year left on his deal with Manchester City and has been linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium. He scored 17 goals and provided nine assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for Pep Guardiola's side.

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Chelsea might need to sell some attackers to accomodate Raheem Sterling next season

Sterling has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge

As Craig Burley noted, Thomas Tuchel has several identical players in his frontline and Raheem Sterling's proposed addition could make his frontline bloated.

The likes of Timo Werner, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic all have similar roles in the squad.

Several of these players are proven internationals and need regular gametime to remain on course to make it to the FIFA World Cup later this year.

Furthermore, Chelsea might have to sell off or loan out some forwards to accommodate Sterling's £60 million fee + wages (via Sky Sports).

The likes of Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech and Pulisic did not feature too heavily for Tuchel last season and might seek a transfer in search of regular playing time.