ROSS BARKLEY’S PROPOSED £35 million move to Chelsea is off after the Everton midfielder ‘changed his mind’ at the last minute after completing a medical.
The England international had travelled to London to finalise his switch to Stamford Bridge but Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri tonight said Barkley had a late change of heart.
“The two clubs agreed a deal of £35m and personal terms were agreed and after the medical we heard from Ross Barkley’s agent that he had changed his mind. He told us he wanted to reconsider and stay with us for the time being,” he told Sky Sports News.
“It was a big surprise but that is football. It has been a very busy transfer window, we have brought in a lot of players especially in attacking areas. We have a lot of new players and it will take some time to gel. We are very happy with business. These are all Ronald Koeman’s signings.”
Koeman and Everton have already planned extensively for life without Barkley and the additions of Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson – along with Thursday’s unlikely Chelsea saga – make his path to the first-team appear somewhat complicated in a World Cup year.
“The number 10 position is a very, very congested area at Everton,” Moshiri said. “We have Sigurdsson, Klassen and Rooney. It’s not easy to break into that now. “He’s a good player, he’s a world class player but he needs to play.”
The collapse of the deal for Barkley stands as Antonio Conte’s latest frustration of a transfer window where he has seen targets including Romelu Lukaku, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – the latter a deadline day signing for Liverpool – move elsewhere.
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
