Transfer Rumour: Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal interested in Everton's Ross Barkley
What’s the story?
British outlet, Telegraph has claimed that Tottenham are interested in signing English midfielder Ross Barkley from Everton and will enquire about his availability in the January transfer window. According to the reports, Spurs were going to wait until the summer transfer window but have decided to move earlier than initially planned. This comes after the North London club were made aware of the interest of city rivals Chelsea and Arsenal, who are also apparently monitoring the player.
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Chelsea and Arsenal have been linked earlier with the highly-rated Englishman as well. After Frank Lampard left Chelsea, rumours linked Barkley to Chelsea, who the club believed would be an ideal person to replace the legend. However, no move materialised and the player ended up staying at Everton.
The Arsenal link should not come as a surprise since the long term future of players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere is still uncertain at the moment. If one of these players leaves the club, Barkley would be considered an able replacement.
The heart of the matter
Barkley has had a tough season under Ronald Koeman who became the Everton manager this season. He has been left out of the team on occasions and has also been publicly criticised by the manager, all things which would certainly have had a negative impact on the player’s morale.
The Everton manager had in October dropped Barkley from the team in a bid to make him improve his dismal form. The manager again had lashed out at the Englishman’s performance in December where he said that Barkley’s consistency is a cause of concern. Funnily enough, seven days later after Barkley scored the equaliser for Everton, Koeman claimed that he was the player that Everton needed in the game.
The 23-year-old has scored a total of 3 goals in 17 appearances for the Toffees in the league this season. The stats certainly don’t favour him and he could indeed go down in the pecking order at Everton if there isn’t an upturn in form.
What next?
The future looks uncertain at the moment and the links to the London clubs can only be considered with a pinch of salt. Koeman has often been called a brutally honest manager and there is always a possibility that his criticism will only fuel Barkley’s desire to improve. It remains to be seen how things will move forward from here after Koeman praised Barkley’s performance against Hull City last Friday.
Sportskeeda’s take
We believe that a move in the winter transfer window looks highly unlikely, especially considering the fact that Barkley is a fan favourite at Everton. High-profile transfers are a rarity in the winter window and this would certainly fall in that category. The Englishman will certainly command a high transfer price which would not be commensurate with his football ability. This would certainly deter a lot of clubs from moving for the player.