Christian Pulisic is up against it at Chelsea because Frank Lampard would never have signed him if it was his decision, according to former Blues forward Chris Sutton.
The USA international has featured in five of Chelsea's Premier League fixtures this season, but completed the 90 minutes in only one of them.
He was also left out of the matchday squad for last week's Champions League victory over Lille, but did come off the bench at Southampton in the Premier League at the weekend.
The attacker's £58million arrival from Borussia Dortmund was announced in January while Maurizio Sarri was still manager, with Lampard since taking the reins and preferring the likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi in attacking positions.
"Pulisic has to prove himself," Sutton - who played 39 times for Chelsea between 1999 and 2000 - told BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday.
"Frank Lampard has no agenda against him, he’s picking the best possible team to win games of football, that’s his job.
"He wasn’t Frank’s signing, of course.
"With Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount coming to the fore, he’s going to have a major problem getting into the starting line-up. I really do think that.
"I don’t see a way in for him at the moment. It’s a lot of money to spend and it would be interesting to ask Frank now if he would sign him at this moment in time if he hadn’t signed him before?
"The answer to that, I think, is pretty obvious – he wouldn’t.
"But, there’s a reason Chelsea spent the money on him, he’s still a young man and got enormous talent, he has to go out and show it.
"It’s good for Frank in terms of strength in depth."
