Chelsea allow Mason Burstow to join Sunderland on loan

Chelsea have announced that Mason Burstow has joined Sunderland on a season-long loan deal.

During the opening months of Mauricio Pochettino's reign at Stamford Bridge, the 20-year-old has been provided with more game time than was anticipated.

After featuring for 68 minutes during pre-season, Burstow has been selected in the squads for Chelsea's opening three Premier League fixtures and the EFL Cup tie with AFC Wimbledon.

Two substitute outings were made against West Ham United and Luton Town respectively before Burstow featured for 64 minutes versus Wimbledon on Wednesday night.

However, the plan had always been for the prospect to earn regular football in the EFL, preferably the Championship for the first time in his career.

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Late on Friday afternoon, Chelsea confirmed that Burstow, who scored against Borussia Dortmund in a friendly earlier in the summer, had moved to the Stadium of Light for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.

The move is a step up from his previous experience in League One with Charlton Athletic with two goals and one assist coming from 16 outings at that level of football.

Sunderland have scored four goals from as many Championship fixtures this season, while Ross Stewart, who has not featured in those games, seems in line to sign for Southampton.

From Chelsea's perspective, they hope to have Armando Broja fit for after the international break, with Deivid Washington also an option courtesy of a foreign loan exit looking unlikely due to the West Londoners potentially needing to allow Trevoh Chalobah to fit the final spot to complete a switch to Bayern Munich.