The Everton player is reportedly holding out for a January move to Tottenham Hotspur.
According to the Daily Star Sunday, Everton’s Ross Barkley will opt for Tottenham Hotspur ahead of Chelsea in January, and if that is true it is testament to the job Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy are doing in North London.
The report claims Barkley felt he was being forced into a move to the Blues on transfer deadline day when he has his heart set on a Spurs switch, and if the 23-year-old does ultimately arrive at Tottenham it will prove the work going on in North London is far more important to some top players than the higher wages they can earn elsewhere.
Tottenham refuse to pay huge salaries for their top players, even though the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Danny Rose could earn significantly more at other top clubs in England and abroad.
Despite that restriction, practically all of Tottenham’s first-team players are tied to long-term contracts and that means if and when they do move on, Levy can command huge fees as he did with right-back Kyle Walker earlier this summer.
Barkley is likely to have been offered a significant pay packet to sign for Chelsea. However he has opted to wait and reassess his options at the turn of the year.
Tottenham are unlikely to offer anywhere close to what the Blues give their highest earners, but on this occasion it seems Barkley has more important things on his mind.
Tottenham are the right club for the England international at this stage of his career and despite their wage restrictions they are still set to reward him handsomely for his efforts.
Only time will tell if this one plays out as is now expected, yet Barkley’s alleged feelings show that when it comes to Tottenham, what they are doing on the field outweighs what a player can earn elsewhere.
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