Graeme Souness believes Everton playmaker Ross Barkley decided to reject a move to Chelsea because of his chances of first-team football.
The Daily Mail claimed that 23-year-old Barkley had travelled to London to undergo a medical with Antonio Conte’s side, but decided to pull out of a deal despite being in the final year of his contract at Goodison Park.
Plenty of reasons have been reported as to why the England international decided to turn down a move to Stamford Bridge, as he joins a lost of players to reject Chelsea this summer including Danilo, Fernando Llorente and Romelu Lukaku.
But Sky Sports pundit Souness claimed that the Toffees academy product rejected a £35million move because he was concerned over his involvement in the first team under Conte.
“I reckon Ross Barkley rejected a £35m move to Chelsea because he could not see himself getting a lot of games there,” Souness said, in his Times column.
Barkley is said to be out injured for another 12 weeks after undergoing surgery on a hamstring problem that has seen him fail to feature for Everton this season.
However, he is unlikely to play even when he is fit, after the Toffees brought in the likes of Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen as options in attacking midfield.
A move to Chelsea would have seen Everton’s number eight rival the likes of Willian, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas for a place in the side, but Souness believes he would have been way down the pecking order.
All eyes will now be on Barkley’s future in the January transfer window, with a new Everton contract unlikely to be forthcoming and a move expected as the Toffees look to sell him for a fee rather than losing him for nothing.
OPINION
Souness is right; Barkley would have got very little game time at Chelsea and his career is already beginning to spiral into the abyss. But a move to Conte’s side would have given Barkley the chance to shine in the Champions League and make an impression, even intermittently, in the blue of the Premier League champions. The midfielder is not expected to play for Everton again after a summer in which he attempted to force a move out of the club, with Tottenham said to be his preferred destination. But Barkley should have indeed put pen to paper at Chelsea, in order to save his career with England’s World Cup campaign less than a year way in the summer of 2018.