Barton has been linked with a January move to Aston Villa with his Rangers contract set to be terminated.
In footballing terms, it might not be the worst thing for Villa to be chasing down promotion in the second half of the campaign with a man on their books whose CV boasts three of them – the most recent with Burnley last season.
It can also be argued that Villa actually do need another midfielder and, with no transfer fee required, Barton will perhaps feature higher on Steve Bruce’s list of targets than some Villans would like.
For them, it seems, it is hard to ignore all the other stuff that comes with Joey Barton – the reason he will soon be unemployed, having been suspended for two months by his previous club, for example.
He is also 34 years of age, something which many Rangers fans identified as a potential problem in the season’s early stage – their concern being that he was unable to move as freely as some of their other central midfielders.
There will always be a debate where Barton is concerned, but which side are you on?
Here’s what Villa fans have been saying so far:
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