Exclusive: Ross Barkley turns down chance to join Chelsea

Exclusive: Ross Barkley turns down chance to join Chelsea after Everton refuse to negotiate with Tottenham

Ross Barkley dramatically turned down the chance to join Chelsea after Everton refused to enter into negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur on a busy transfer deadline day for the Premier League champions.

As Chelsea closed in on Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater and put the finishing touches to the signing of Davide Zappacosta from Torino, Barkley refused to be pushed into a move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea agreed a fee of £35 million for Barkley, as Everton had refused to deal with Tottenham on the final day of the transfer window. But Barkley was uncomfortable with having his future dictated by the Toffees and informed Chelsea that he wants to wait until January to make a decision on his next move.

Chelsea will try for Barkley again in the New Year and it remains to be seen whether or not Everton will change their stance and listen to a bid from Tottenham in the next transfer window.

Barkley has already entered the final 12 months of his contract and is unlikely to play again before January after undergoing surgery on his injured hamstring. That means his value will drop dramatically in January, when he will be only six months from being able to leave Everton for nothing.

Everton claimed that Barkley even underwent a Chelsea medical before changing his mind, but sources close to the player insist that is not the case and the 23 year-old never got as far as having a medical.

Just minutes after news of Barkley turning down Chelsea broke, Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri said: “The two clubs agreed a deal of £35m, I think personal terms were agreed and after the medical we heard from Paul Martin, his agent, that he (Barkley) changed his mind.

“He wants to reconsider his position during the January window. He is currently injured, so I think technically he will be with us because he is under contract for another year. It is a big surprise, but that is football.”

Asked if Barkley still has a role to play at Everton once he is fit, Moshiri added: “That is the difficulty. The No 10 position is very congested as we have Sigurdsson, Klaasen and Rooney. It is not easy to break into that now, but he (Barkley) is a good player, he is a world-class player but he needs to play.”

Source: Telegraph