The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ross Barkley

  • Chelsea grabs Ross Barkley for £15million

    Chelsea grabs Ross Barkley for £15million

     

    Ross Barkley has signed for Chelsea from Everton, the Premier League champions have announced.

    The 24-year-old’s contract at Goodison Park was due to expire at the end of the season after he rejected a new deal with the Toffees.

    A move to Chelsea on transfer deadline day in August did not materialise, but Barkley has now moved to Stamford Bridge for a cut-price fee, reported to be in the region of £15million.

    Twenty-four-year-old Barkley has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract, which runs until 2023.

    ‘I’m overwhelmed, I’m looking forward to it and I’m really excited to get started,’ Barkley told his new club’s official website.

    ‘To be given a fresh start at a new club like Chelsea, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m looking forward to continuing where I left off at the end of last season and hoping to improve and add more goals to my game.’

    Director Marina Granovskaia added: ‘Ross is a player we have long admired and are certain he will prove to be an important player for Chelsea.

    ‘He possesses outstanding technical and physical attributes, matched with good experience of the Premier League and a strong desire to succeed at the highest level. We welcome him to the club and look forward to seeing him in action.’

    Barkley has yet to play this season due to a hamstring injury, but he is nearing match fitness.

    Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup third round tie at Norwich on Saturday and prior to the deal being confirmed, Conte said: ‘We are talking about an English player, a young player. He has good prospects for Chelsea. I think the club decided for this investment also for his contract.

    ‘I think this is a good opportunity for the club to buy this player.

    ‘For sure he is a good prospect for Chelsea.’

    May’s loss to Arsenal was the last Toffees appearance for the Everton academy graduate, who made 150 Premier League appearances for Everton, scoring 21 goals.

    The Italian added: ‘Don’t forget he had a bad injury, he had surgery. This player has not played in seven months.

    ‘We must have great patience. We have to hope to recover him very quickly, to try to help us for the rest of the season.’

    Conte declined to address rumours West Ham striker Andy Carroll was a target, saying transfers were not his remit.

    He added: ‘The recruitment is not my job. The club try to do the best for this team, to try to improve this team.’

    Conte plans to rotate his options for Saturday’s trip to Norwich.

    David Luiz is poised to make only his second appearance since October after falling out of favour and undergoing rehabilitation on a knee injury.

    Eden Hazard, who was likely to be rested anyway, is a doubt after being kicked on the calf in Wednesday’s draw at Arsenal

  • Barkley reveals huge 10-inch scar after surgery

    Barkley reveals huge 10-inch scar after surgery

     

    Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has revealed the huge 10-inch scar that has been left on the underside of his thigh following surgery on a ruptured hamstring.

    The 24-year-old is yet to play for the Toffees this season after suffering the serious affliction in the build up to their first Premier League game, but it appears he may be nearing a return.

    Barkley posted a photo of his scar along with the words ‘not long now’, suggesting he will be available for selection under new manager Sam Allardyce sooner rather than later.

    Much has changed at Goodison Park since Barkley injured his hamstring. He was on the verge of leaving after a fallout with Ronald Koeman and and even turned down a deadline day move to Chelsea in order to focus on his rehabilitation.

    But a disastrous start to the season saw the Dutchman sacked and replaced by Allardyce, offering Barkley the chance for a fresh start at his boyhood club.

    He is expected to make his return to action in the next two weeks, but there is every chance he may not play for Everton again with Chelsea and Tottenham both ready to renew their interest in the January transfer window.

    Although Allardyce may be willing to offer Barkley a reprieve, the player himself still has a decision to make on his future as he enters the final six months of his contract next month.

    Gylfi Sigurdsson was signed as a replacement for the England international and the presence of Wayne Rooney may also limit Barkley’s playing opportunities.

    Meanwhile, Chelsea are searching for ways to boost their squad in mid-season and will make contact to find out what it might take to get him interested in a move to west London.

    Antonio Conte’s tactical switch towards a five-man midfield would offer more opportunities for a player of Barkley’s style and ease the workload on Cesc Fabregas.

  • Koeman blames failed Giroud move, tough fixtures for sacking

    Koeman blames failed Giroud move, tough fixtures for sacking

    Former Everton manager, Ronald Koeman says the club’s failure to sign Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud as a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, combined with their tough fixture list to start the season, led to him being fired.

    Koeman was sacked on Monday after Everton’s 5-2 loss to Arsenal dropped them into the Premier League relegation zone.

    The side have struggled to score this year, netting just seven goals in nine league games, and Koeman said allowing top scorer Lukaku to leave for Manchester United without signing a replacement proved costly.

    “I had Olivier Giroud in the building,’’ Koeman told Dutch magazine VI.

    ”He would have fitted perfectly but, at the very last moment, he decided that he’d rather live in London and stay at Arsenal.

    “That was really hard to swallow … Lukaku was so important for us, not just because of his goals.

    “If things were not going well in a game, if we could not play the way we were used to, there was always the option to use the long ball towards him.”

    Everton faced Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in their opening nine league games.

    And Koeman, who spent heavily in the summer to overhaul the squad, said he knew it would be tough going when the fixture list came out.

    “I looked at it and saw that five of our first nine games would be against clubs from last season’s top six…,” Koeman added.

    “I said to myself, ‘Phew! That is not going to be an easy run, in particular with a Europa League run at the same time; and, most of all, because I had lost my striker Lukaku.”

    Giroud was not the only striking target Everton missed out on, midfielder Nikola Vlasic told Dutch outlet 24sata.

    The club had hoped to sign former Chelsea striker Diego Costa and had reserved a shirt number for the Spaniard.

    “Number 27 was free, I wanted 8, but Ross Barkley wears it, while the club was keeping 19 for Diego Costa,” Vlasic said.

    Assistant coach David Unsworth was named Everton’s interim manager and his first league match in charge will be a trip to Leicester City on Sunday.

    NAN

  • Barkley snubs Chelsea in dramatic end to transfer deadline day

    Barkley snubs Chelsea in dramatic end to transfer deadline day

    Chelsea suffered a dramatic late blow on transfer deadline day when Everton midfielder Ross Barkley rejected a move to Stamford Bridge after travelling to their training ground for a medical.

    On a day of frenetic spending which took the English Premier League total to a record far above one billion pounds, they also missed out on two of their other targets.

    The Premier League champions missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fernando Llorente.

    England midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Liverpool and Spaniard Llorente joined Tottenham Hotspur in deals worth 35 million pounds and 12 million pounds respectively.

    But Antonio Conte’s side still managed some business, paying Torino 23 million pounds for defender Davide Zappacosta and then pushing through a late deal for Danny Drinkwater.

    Special dispensation was requested from the English Football Association (FA) to register Leicester City’s midfielder after the official deadline, making it one of several deals to come through late.

    However welcome those signings will be for Chelsea, they may not compensate for the snub delivered by England midfielder Barkley.

    He arrived at their Cobham training ground late on Thursday only to turn round and head back north.

    Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri said Barkley had turned up at the west London club’s Cobham training base only to undergo a dramatic change of heart as the transfer deadline clock ticked down.

    “The two clubs agreed a deal of 35 million pounds. I think personal terms were agreed and after medical (sic) we heard from Paul Martin, Ross Barkley’s agent, that he had changed his mind,’’ said Moshiri.

    He added that Barkley, who is in the final year of his contract at Everton, wanted to “reconsider his position’’ in the January transfer window.

    “It was a big surprise but this is football,’’ Moshiri said.

    A source close to 23-year-old Barclay said the midfielder did not have a medical and wanted to make a decision about his future when he was fully fit.

    He has been sidelined with a hamstring injury after a hernia operation.

    Alexis Sanchez was another player staying put, although for different reasons.

    Arsenal turned down a 60 million pounds bid from Manchester City after failing to secure his potential replacement, Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.

    This was in spite of a 92 million pounds bid reportedly being accepted by the French club.

    British media speculated that the France winger would have preferred a switch to Liverpool, who were reported to have made their own bid.

    The development was a possible indication that Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho could be en route from Anfield to FC Barcelona.

    Although that deal looks unlikely, the transfer window in Spain does not close until Friday.

    Liverpool failed to lure central defender Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, who refused to sell in spite of a high-profile transfer request.

    This development had led to the Dutch international’s exclusion from first team training.

    But the Merseyside club did agree a fee to sell French defender Mamadou Sakho to Crystal Palace for 24 million pounds.

    West Bromwich Albion’s Jonny Evans is also staying put despite being linked with a move to Arsenal or Manchester City, who still ended up as the window’s top spenders.

    This was after lavishing in excess of 200 million pounds on players.

    Spurs are traditionally busy on deadline day and completed the signing of Llorente from Swansea and paid PSG 23 million pounds for Ivorian Serge Aurier.

    Swansea re-signed striker Wilfried Bony from Manchester City and, in one of the day’s surprises, brought in Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches on loan from Bayern Munich.

    Another Portugal Euro 2016 winner, Adrien Silva, was due to join Leicester in a late deal with the Foxes also signing Austria’s Aleksandar Dragovic from Bayer Leverkusen.

    Every Premier League club brought in at least two players in the window, with Watford and promoted Huddersfield Town the busiest teams with each making 13 signings.

    Brighton & Hove Albion left it late to bring in goalkeeper Tim Krul on loan from Newcastle United and defender Ezequiel Schelotto from Inter Milan.

    Everton, one of the window’s most prolific spenders, lavished a further 10 million pounds on Hajduk Split’s teenage striker Nikola Vlasic.

    France defender Mamadou Sakho joined Crystal Palace from Liverpool on a four-year deal, the club said on Friday.

    The deal for centre-back Sakho, who spent the last season on loan at Selhurst Park and played eight games for Palace, was worth about 26 million pounds ($33.65 million).

  • Barkley snubs Chelsea in dramatic end to transfer deadline day

    Barkley snubs Chelsea in dramatic end to transfer deadline day

    Chelsea suffered a dramatic late blow on transfer deadline day when Everton midfielder Ross Barkley rejected a move to Stamford Bridge after travelling to their training ground for a medical.

    On a day of frenetic spending which took the English Premier League total to a record far above one billion pounds, they also missed out on two of their other targets.

    The Premier League champions missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fernando Llorente.

    England midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Liverpool and Spaniard Llorente joined Tottenham Hotspur in deals worth 35 million pounds and 12 million pounds respectively.

    But Antonio Conte’s side still managed some business, paying Torino 23 million pounds for defender Davide Zappacosta and then pushing through a late deal for Danny Drinkwater.

    Special dispensation was requested from the English Football Association (FA) to register Leicester City’s midfielder after the official deadline, making it one of several deals to come through late.

    However welcome those signings will be for Chelsea, they may not compensate for the snub delivered by England midfielder Barkley.

    He arrived at their Cobham training ground late on Thursday only to turn round and head back north.

    Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri said Barkley had turned up at the west London club’s Cobham training base only to undergo a dramatic change of heart as the transfer deadline clock ticked down.

    “The two clubs agreed a deal of 35 million pounds. I think personal terms were agreed and after medical (sic) we heard from Paul Martin, Ross Barkley’s agent, that he had changed his mind,’’ said Moshiri.

    He added that Barkley, who is in the final year of his contract at Everton, wanted to “reconsider his position’’ in the January transfer window.

    “It was a big surprise but this is football,’’ Moshiri said.

    A source close to 23-year-old Barclay said the midfielder did not have a medical and wanted to make a decision about his future when he was fully fit.

    He has been sidelined with a hamstring injury after a hernia operation.

    Alexis Sanchez was another player staying put, although for different reasons.

    Arsenal turned down a 60 million pounds bid from Manchester City after failing to secure his potential replacement, Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.

    This was in spite of a 92 million pounds bid reportedly being accepted by the French club.

    British media speculated that the France winger would have preferred a switch to Liverpool, who were reported to have made their own bid.

    The development was a possible indication that Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho could be en route from Anfield to FC Barcelona.

    Although that deal looks unlikely, the transfer window in Spain does not close until Friday.

    Liverpool failed to lure central defender Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, who refused to sell in spite of a high-profile transfer request.

    This development had led to the Dutch international’s exclusion from first team training.

    But the Merseyside club did agree a fee to sell French defender Mamadou Sakho to Crystal Palace for 24 million pounds.

    West Bromwich Albion’s Jonny Evans is also staying put despite being linked with a move to Arsenal or Manchester City, who still ended up as the window’s top spenders.

    This was after lavishing in excess of 200 million pounds on players.

    Spurs are traditionally busy on deadline day and completed the signing of Llorente from Swansea and paid PSG 23 million pounds for Ivorian Serge Aurier.

    Swansea re-signed striker Wilfried Bony from Manchester City and, in one of the day’s surprises, brought in Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches on loan from Bayern Munich.

    Another Portugal Euro 2016 winner, Adrien Silva, was due to join Leicester in a late deal with the Foxes also signing Austria’s Aleksandar Dragovic from Bayer Leverkusen.

    Every Premier League club brought in at least two players in the window, with Watford and promoted Huddersfield Town the busiest teams with each making 13 signings.

    Brighton & Hove Albion left it late to bring in goalkeeper Tim Krul on loan from Newcastle United and defender Ezequiel Schelotto from Inter Milan.

    Everton, one of the window’s most prolific spenders, lavished a further 10 million pounds on Hajduk Split’s teenage striker Nikola Vlasic.

    France defender Mamadou Sakho joined Crystal Palace from Liverpool on a four-year deal, the club said on Friday.

    The deal for centre-back Sakho, who spent the last season on loan at Selhurst Park and played eight games for Palace, was worth about 26 million pounds ($33.65 million).(NAN)

  • Tottenham makes U-turn in Ross Barkley deal

    Tottenham makes U-turn in Ross Barkley deal

    Tottenham are cooling their interest in Everton midfielder Ross Barkley.

    The England international was left behind from Everton’s trip to Tanzania last week with the club citing a groin injury.

    The 23-year-old, with one year left on contract, has been keen to resolve his future and has so far failed to agree terms on a new deal at Everton as he looks for over £120,000 a week.

    However, despite an expected push from Tottenham in the wake of their £54million Kyle Walker windfall, they are opting against pursuing Barkley at this stage.

    Arsenal and Chelsea have also shown interest in homegrown Barkley and Everton expect offers to come later in the window though they do not intend to let him go cheaply.

    Everton’s valuation in an inflated market was £50m and that has deterred suitors so far.

    Tottenham have also shelved any plans to move for Porto right-back Ricardo Pereira as they weigh up options to replace Kyle Walker.

    Kieran Trippier will carry on as first choice though they continue to assess other players for the position to maintain competition for places.

    Tottenham, who also steadfastly maintain Eric Dier will not be sold, have not made an offer to Real Madrid for midfielder Mateo Kovacic despite reports a £25m offer was rejected.

    Lennon has returned to training after a difficult spell last season which saw him admitted to hospital when he was detained under the Mental Health Act. The 30-year-old has looked sharp in training and is eager to play.

  • Barkley shows black eye after attack in Liverpool

    Barkley shows black eye after attack in Liverpool

     

    Ross Barkley was pictured for the first time since he was the victim of an ‘unprovoked attack’ in a Liverpool bar on Sunday night, with the Everton midfielder showing bruising on his face as he left training at the club’s Finch Farm base.

    The 23-year-old’s face looked battered and bruised as he was seen leaving Everton’s training ground after arriving at the facility a few hours earlier on Wednesday.

    Barkley was punched to the ground by a reveller as he visited Santa Chupitos cocktail bar in Liverpool, hours after helping his side beat Leicester City 4-2 at Goodison Park.

    CCTV footage showed the Everton and England midfielder talking to another man near the bar before three punches were thrown in his direction, and Barkley’s lawyers confirmed the attack in a statement on Monday.

    The Wavertree-born Liverpudlian was wearing shades, a black sports hoodie and baseball cap as he drove his black Range Rover Overfinch worth £189,990 early on Wednesday morning into the training ground.

    But he removed the accessories as he left the training ground, showing off what looked to be a particularly painful looking black eye.

    It is the first time the player has been spotted since becoming embroiled in a fight on Slater Street in Ropewalks, Liverpool’s bohemian heartland, not long after he had played the full 90 minutes in the win over the Premier League champions.

    Santa Chupitos has since confirmed it has sacked the person responsible for leaking footage of the attack onto the internet, released by Twitter user That Heavy Kid.

    A statement from Barkley’s lawyer said on Monday: ‘We can confirm that Ross was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a stranger who approached him on Sunday evening.’

    According to the club, Barkley did not suffer any concussion from the incident after being checked out by club medical staff, and he will not be disciplined as club sources say he was not in breach of any rules and was under no curfew.

    Merseyside Police are looking into the incident, and Barkley will want to move on from the skirmish as quickly as possible by continuing his good form on the pitch when Everton host Sean Dyche’s side at Goodison Park on Saturday.

    The midfielder, who is earning £60,000-a-week at Everton, has been playing some of his most enterprising football since the New Year.

    Ronald Koeman’s side are chase a top six finish in the Premier League with six games remaining, but Barkley’s Everton future is far from certain with the midfielder having just one more year left to run on his contract.