Simon Jordan has claimed that Aston Villa new boy Ross Barkley doesn’t deserve the hype that has come his way in football, insisting there is ‘a lot of reputation in front of content’.
Aston Villa have snapped up the 26-year-old attacking midfielder on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Barkley joined the Blues from Everton in a £15 million deal two-and-a-half years ago but the fact that he was allowed to leave suggests that he has struggled to fulfill his potential in West London.
The England international emerged as one of the contry’s brightest young talents at Everton, but has only managed to start 28 Premier League games since leaving Merseyside.
Still, it’s considered quite a coup for Aston Villa to sign Barkley, and Jordan has suggested to talkSPORT that although he’s a ‘very good player’, the former Crystal Palace owner isn’t sold on this being the sort of signing that it’s been billed as.
He said: “Ross Barkley comes with a reputation I don’t honestly – I’m sorry – think he deserves. I don’t think he did what he could have at Everton. He didn’t fulfill his potential. He moved to Chelsea, hasn’t landed on the ground. His performances at Chelsea haven’t been where they’ve needed to be. Frank [Lampard] has questioned his professionalism. There’s a lot of reputation in front content, but he is a very good player.”
Is Jordan right? Well to some extent, yes.
He’s certainly a good signing for Aston Villa but the pundit is right in saying that if Barkley had fulfilled his potential and lived up to the quality he showed as a younger player then he probably wouldn’t be joining Dean Smith’s side on loan.
At 26, he remains a very talented footballer but perhaps not as talented as everybody was led to believe some years ago, though hopefully he can rebuild his career under Smith.
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