"Makes very little sense that..." - Chelsea issue highlighted as Sunderland weigh January decision | OneFootball

Highlights

Pundit Carlton Palmer thinks that Sunderland could cut their losses on Mason Burstow, although the failure of other forwards may convince the Black Cats to persist with the Chelsea man until the end of the season.

The Chelsea forward came to the club with great hype but has failed to score in his 12 matches for the Black Cats, assisting just once in the Championship.

With two strikers already identified as targets for the January transfer window, the jury is out on whether Burstow will remain at Sunderland for the remainder of the season, or return to his parent club this month.

Sunderland sit sixth in the Championship at the moment, so have a long way to go if they hope to win promotion to the Premier League. They will need to find a consistent goalscorer if they want to finish high up in the table this season, which could either see Burstow stepping up or stepping away from Sunderland.

Carlton Palmer: Issues facing Chelsea and Sunderland

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer said that Sunderland could send Burstow back to Chelsea after failing to make an impact at the Stadium of Light, although the underperformance of other forwards may necessitate him remaining at Sunderland.

However, he noted that a return to Chelsea is not ideal for the Blues, as they will be unable to loan him out again this season if he returns to the club, which will hamper the youngster's development unless boss Mauricio Pochettino wants to play him in the first team.

He said: "Mason Burstow is on loan at Sunderland from Chelsea for the season, but so far has failed to make any kind of impact.

"The subject of whether Sunderland should send him back, or should Chelsea recall him, is a difficult one. From Sunderland's point of view, he has created very little impact from the start of the season and is now on the periphery of the first team, and he’s using up a valuable loan space.

"But from Chelsea’s point of view, it makes very little sense that they recall him unless they attend to use him, as FIFA rules say he has represented Sunderland and Chelsea, so he couldn’t go on loan anywhere else this season.

"He’s talented. Mick Beale might look at the situation and think it's worth keeping him in the hope he comes good. Burstow is young, and both Nazariy Rusyn and Eliezer Mayenda were recruited in the summer and have failed to make a significant impact."

How has Mason Burstow performed at Sunderland?

Despite being labelled as "one of the brightest young centre-forwards" by sporting director Kristjaan Speakman when signing for Sunderland, Burstow has failed to enough of that ability while on loan at Sunderland.

The 20-year-old has struggled for game time at Sunderland, starting only eight of the 12 matches he has been involved in, and spending the bulk of his time on the bench in the latter half of the season so far.

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Beale has said himself that no decision has been made to send the forward back to Chelsea, indicating that he could remain at Sunderland for the rest of the season as he assesses the youngster's contributions to the team.

He told The Northern Echo: “I gave Mason a go (off the bench at Rotherham), I gave young Eliezer a go off the bench against Coventry City last week. I'm looking at the boys in the training, it's my first time working with them and it's been spoken about enough that the strikers we brought in haven't scored yet.

“I'm looking and seeing, and we'll assess as the window opens what it is that we'll do, but my focus at the moment is working with them in training, getting them in front of the goal and scoring.

"There's a lot of work going on in the background with these strikers and I think it's clear that, as a team, we need to convert our possession into more shots and then more goals.”

With Palmer's point that Sunderland's forwards, sans Jack Clarke, have failed to find the net regularly this season, it may be worthwhile to persist with Burstow while he is at the Stadium of Light and see if he can reach the potential that they saw in him before joining the club.