£85m not enough to prise away Everton's Ross Barkley: Roberto Martinez
Ross Barkley of Everton
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has insisted that the club’s rising star, Ross Barkley, will not be leaving the club in January, whatever the size of any bids made for him. Martinez said that the club would not even accept a world record bid in January for the midfield player he describes as “an icon.” Martinez admitted to the Mirror that if Barkley continues his development then he will inevitably leave the club, but says that any move would be on Everton’s terms, despite the fact that Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City reportedly all maintain their long standing interest in the player.
“Even if we got a Gareth Bale-size valuation we would never even consider it in January,” said Martinez.
“Ross is an icon for us. He represents everything we are trying to do this season, so even if a stupid offer arrived in January it would never, never affect us.”
“It is important for us as a football club to show we are making the right football decisions. There is no question mark over Ross’ future, he is in the best moment of his time and is everything we want a player to represent at Everton.”
“There is not even a question mark against whether he is going to be here in February or not.”
“Ross is in a moment of his career where first, he knows that he needs to carry on developing and this is the perfect place to do that. Second, he is a mad Evertonian and enjoying every single second,”
“Third, we are in the middle of a season where we would never, ever consider disrupting what we have got in our squad now. It is not the right time for the player or the club to consider anything.”
However Martinez did concede, whilst it won’t be the January transfer window, that there may come a day when the club are under pressure to sell Barkley.
“You need to understand that you cannot fight against the trend of the modern game. You saw it with Gareth Bale, with Ronaldo; that is the nature of the modern game”, he said.
“What is very important is that if anything happens, it is our club that dictates how and when.”
“If we had a financial problem or were facing a financial disaster then we would not be in control of those aspects and I would be telling you ‘Look, we are in the lap of the Gods’. We are not in that situation at all. We are probably in the strongest financial position we have been for a long, long time.”
The former Swansea and Wigan boss continued by praising Barkley’s character, saying:
“I’ve never met an elite footballer with such a strong winning mentality who is so down-to-earth. He is so realistic about what he has to do.”
“Ross knows he is in the best place, there is no doubt about that. What he has done on the pitch has caught a lot of attention but Ross he recognises he’s a very young man and is still developing.”
Barkley has completed 44 of the 70 take ons that he has attempted this season, the third highest in the Premier League behind Eden Hazard and Andros Townsend