Chelsea have spent a crazy amount of money over the years, and usually, it has resulted in trophies.
Some probably didn’t fulfil their potential at Stamford Bridge, even though they had all the talent in the world.
One of them includes Ross Barkley, who is now at Luton Town, and is probably playing the best football of his career – He has been compared to Diego Maradona.
The 30-year-old spent four years at Chelsea, before leaving in 2022 and into the wilderness.
A trip to Nice didn’t do him any wonders, but since returning to the Premier League for newly-promoted Luton this summer, he has shone like no other.
If Rob Edwards’ side stay up, then Ross Barkley has played a huge part because he has made that ball talk and put in performances that have seen him get mentioned for an England recall.
Gareth Southgate named his squad for the upcoming internationals against Brazil and Belgium, with the former Everton man omitted.
But ex-England left-back Stuart Pearce feels that the player still deserves praise, including how he gets into his ’Team of the Season’.
Ross Barkley Team of the Season
“I was mulling over a couple of weeks ago what my Team of the Season would be,” said Pearce.
“I always like to put people in there that aren’t your normal people. We can all put de Bruyne in there.
“But I tell you what, Ross Barkley for what he has done for Luton Town to make them competitive this year, and where he has come from, he was certainly a big talent and I worked with him at under-21 level.
“Then he went off the boil, but for what he has done this year, I think he is worth the shout for Team of the Year.”
The Everton wonderkid
There is no doubt that Barkley had all the talent in the world as a teenager.
The way he could carry that ball, his technical ability and his knack for scoring goals from the middle of the park were second to none.
You are still seeing that in his game now and he has put in some incredible performances against some top sides this season, i.e Arsenal.
His only problem is that people will always have that cloud over his head and how he just didn’t fulfil his full potential.
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