Everton: Ross Barkley left out of squad for trip to Netherlands
By Paul Taylor
Ross Barkley is absent again as Everton head to the Netherlands for their second pre-season trip, further increasing speculation over his future.
As Everton flew out to the Netherlands on Monday, fans eagerly searched for news on the 25-man squad. Unsurprisingly, most of the talk revolved around one player – Ross Barkley.
As reported by The Guardian‘s Andy Hunter, Barkley was again left out of the Everton squad, for their second overseas trip of the pre-season. This will only further increase speculation over his future on Merseyside.
On the surface at least, it appears Ronald Koeman is continuing on his vow to freeze the midfielder out, after he refused to sign his contract extension by the end of May. With this in mind, let’s look at the matter objectively, to determine what’s going on at the moment.
The official line by Everton is that Barkley is still recovering from a groin problem. When this was given as the reason for him missing the previous overseas trip, we questioned this, only because Yannick Bolasie, who is dealing with a much more serious injury, did travel to Tanzania.
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However, Bolasie has been left out of the second 25-man squad. As such, we accept our previous assumption was wrong, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo international being included in the first squad to help promote Everton in Africa.
Further, there are other players missing from the trip to the Netherlands, who are also recovering from injury. More specifically, Ramiro Funes Mori (knee) and Seamus Coleman (leg).
No doubt, some people will be quick to point out the injuries to Mori and Coleman are more serious than Barkley’s, and this is where things get interesting again. In this respect, consider the inclusion of Maarten Stekelenburg for the trip to the Netherlands.
According to the official Everton website injury list, Stekelenburg is — like Barkley — dealing with a groin issue. Further, Barkley isn’t on the Blues’ official injury list.
Now, we appreciate we could very well be reading too much into this. However, as per the saying, perception is reality.
Overall, we accept we cannot know for sure what is going on – only Koeman knows the answer to this. All we can do is report what we do know and leave it to the fans to make up their own minds.
Ultimately though, Barkley will be thinking long and hard about his future, especially if he doesn’t get moved before the end of the current transfer window. He is understandably eager to go to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but if Koeman freezes him out at Everton, a lack of first team football will threaten his inclusion in the England squad.
Next: Everton up the ante for Gylfi Sigurdsson
As above, we’re leaving it to you to decide what’s happening with Barkley. With all the available information to hand, what’s your opinion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.