Barkley left Everton to join Chelsea in January but he was barely given a chance under Antonio Conte.
Injuries and a lack of form hampered the early days of his Stamford Bridge career but Barkley is up the pecking order under Maurizio Sarri.
Schwarzer thinks Barkley was ‘too comfortable’ at Everton after shooting to stardom as a teenager.
But it’s different at Chelsea, who Schwarzer believes have spent time trying to work out a formula to help him end his injury hell.
“He’s been taken out the comfort zone. He’s moved away from home, he’s moved away from Everton where possibly it was a little too comfortable for him at times,”
Schwarzer told Sky Sports’ The Verdict.
“He went to stardom very, very quickly. He was the next biggest thing in talent and rightly so.
“Then he had a lot of issues with injuries and he’s come to Chelsea and he had some injuries at the start when he first came in January.
“He’s now established himself. I think they’ve done a lot of work with him off the pitch to try and address those injury concerns.
“He’s fitter and stronger than he’s ever been in his whole career.
“I saw him in Australia in pre-season and he looked really strong and really fit.
Even then he was impressive in that short period of time when I saw him there.
Barkley is now back in the England fold and Liam Rosenior, appearing alongside Schwarzer on The Verdict, thinks it’s all down to Maurizio Sarri.
“This is a player who is benefiting from a coach who has a fundamental way of playing and I think Sarri has been absolutely outstanding since he’s come into Chelsea,” he added.
“We spoke about Chelsea last season and having a philosophy and way of playing. They were outstanding at Southampton.
“Ross Barkley has benefited from that as he plays in a way that suits his game. That’s what we want for our young players.
“It’s no surprise that as long as he keeps fit he will flourish under someone like Maurizio Sarri.”
“We want our technical players to play in teams where they can bring their qualities to the fore.
“That’s what you are seeing with Ross Barkley at the moment. We know he has always had the ability.
“Maybe at times he’s let himself down in terms of performance, maybe not. But at the moment he’s someone who is still young, an exciting talent and is someone who is absolutely thriving under a coach who likes to play a game that suits his way of playing.”