Shortly after Everton accepted a bid for Ross Barkley from Chelsea, the midfielder changed his mind about moving to London.
So close, but yet so far. They say two wrongs don’t make a right, but Everton must be sorely tempted to test this philosophy, in light of events on Thursday.
All summer long, the Blues have been attempting to move Ross Barkley, after he made it clear he has no intention of signing a contract extension. And as the clock ticked towards zero on Deadline Day, it looked as if everything was finally going to be resolved.
Speculation started circulating, indicating Everton had agreed a fee of between £30-£35 million with Chelsea. In addition, Barkley had apparently agreed personal terms.
Unfortunately for Evertonians and their beloved club, the wantaway midfielder suddenly changed his mind. As reported by BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty, Barkley’s agent contacted Everton to say he wanted to reconsider his options in January.
Just like that, Everton are now stuck with a player who won’t even be able to contribute until November at the earliest, after suffering a hamstring injury. The question is, where do they go from here?
The chances are the Blues will be unable to again command a fee of at least £30 million, when the transfer window reopens in January. Similarly, don’t expect Barkley to have a change of heart and reconsider signing the contract they previously offered him.
As we said, two wrongs may not make a right, but the 23-year-old has essentially screwed over Everton. Yes, we appreciate an individual’s right to do what’s best for them, but he has still come across as being extremely selfish, whether this perception is fair or not.
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Barkley still has hopes of playing in the World Cup next year, in Russia. However, in order to do this, he needs to be playing regular first team football.
Ronald Koeman has already indicated the England international will be frozen out of the squad, after refusing to sign his contract extension. Assuming the Everton manager is a man of his word — and certainly, he comes across as a no-nonsense type — the young midfielder shouldn’t expect to play when he returns from injury.
This will then take us to January and the next transfer window, when the Blues will start listening to more offers for Barkley. However, if they want to have some degree of payback, maybe they could be tempted to just refuse all bids and keep him on the sidelines until the summer, thus sabotaging his chances of going to Russia.
Of course, we appreciate this would be extremely petty on the part of Everton. (As well as being bad business, if someone does come in with a reasonable offer.) And yet, we’re sure there are plenty of fans out there who would actually support this move, after what Barkely did on Thursday.
Next: How long will Jordan Pickford be out?
We won’t ask you for your reaction to Barkley rejecting a move to Chelsea. (Only because we don’t want to encourage any profanity-laced responses.) Instead, what would you do with the midfielder, once he returns from injury? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.