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He struggles – Burley warns Barcelona against signing Chelsea star

Former Chelsea midfielder, Craig Burley has fired a transfer warning to Barcelona in their pursuit of Chelsea left-back, Marcos Alonso.

Burley believes Alonso, 31, will not be able to fit himself into Barcelona manager Xavi’s style of play and the transfer may ‘fall flat’ on the face, adding that the Spaniard struggles.

Barcelona have been linked with a move for Alonso as Xavi continues implementing his plans to overhaul his squad ahead of next season.

Speaking to ESPN FC, Burley discussed Barcelona’s interest in Alonso.

He said: “Here is where it just falls flat on its face for me. For a long time now, Marcos Alonso has struggled as a left-back. I think Marcos Alonso has superseded expectations in the last two or three years, particularly before Chilwell and when Chilwell has been out, as a wing-back. But he struggled at left-back. He struggled when he didn’t have a Rudiger or a third centre-back outside him to cover him.”

“Correct me if I am wrong, somebody will have to tell me the last time Barcelona played consistently with three at the back with wing-backs, it just doesn’t happen. When you look at that as a position and when you look at his age, yeah it might be cheap and cheerful and it’s something they can do, but he struggles as a left-back, certainly in the latter part of his career when he has had to go back there and defend one-on-one.”

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