Transfer story
In the race to sign Everton’s Ross Barkley, another name that has now been added is that of Arsene Wenger’s side. Tottenham were the club interested in adding the England international to their squad initially, and Arsenal have joined their domestic rivals as well.
The 23-year old superstar was wanted by Spurs for quite some time now, though it seems it’s going to be a north London derby in the transfer market.
The Toffees, on the other hand, are expecting a fee of about £50m for his services and it will be interesting to see which club obliges and is ready to pay that amount.
It is expected that the sum will eventually go down prior to the 31st of August, as they wish to cash in on him and the player is expected to be fit by then.
After having a surgery on his hernia, Barkley has been slowly recovering for 4 weeks now, but that has not stopped these top clubs from keeping tabs on him.
Both teams have title ambitions and will want to add the talented star to their squad, as they look to further fortify their current squad.
Player stats
In his previous season for the Merseyside outfit, the player made a total of 39 appearances, scoring 6 times with 8 assists to his name. He played for more than 2900 minutes, which is a positive sign for the manager, who will want to have a player who can play maximum football.
In a total of 150 appearances for Everton, he has scored 21 times since joining them back in 2010. He is quite a versatile player and can play at various positions in the centre or wide midfield, a quality that could be really useful for a club like Arsenal or Spurs.
The player is good at passing the ball around and creating chances as well, with a pass success rate of 82.5% in the top flight of English football last term. (Stats via Whoscored)
Deal or no deal?
The fact that both Spurs and Arsenal want him means that he does have the quality to be a top player and can probably help both teams challenge for the title next season. Also, he is a home grown player, which could be another reason why the two English giants want to add him to their squad.
Having said that, he has been pretty inconsistent in the last few seasons and whoever signs him won’t have a straight forward job in trying to get the best out of him. With Everton looking for more creative recruits, it’s a hint that they’d prefer selling Barkley for a large sum after noting that he is good on his day, but such days are rare.
Though the price does seem to be a bit on the higher side and the clubs might be reluctant to pay it, only time will tell whether he is actually worth the money or not, if a deal does indeed materialise.
