Report: Mauricio Pochettino wants Ross Barkley as long-term Mousa Dembele replacement

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Everton’s Ross Barkley is reportedly wanted by Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has identified Everton’s Ross Barkley as a potential long-term replacement for Mousa Dembele, according to The Times.

Barkley operates as an attacking midfielder, but Spurs manager Pochettino wants to convert him into a central midfielder, according to the report.

It has been claimed that the Argentine boss fears that the 30-year-old Belgium international midfielder Dembele will struggle to play at the highest level beyond his early thirties as he has been playing regular first-team football since he was 19 years of age.

“Pochettino believes that Barkley could be effective in Dembele’s role as a deeper lying midfielder responsible for controlling the rhythm of Tottenham’s game as well as in the No 10 role that he has largely filled for Everton,” states the report in The Times.

Barkley is a very dynamic footballer, and given that he is 23 years of age, the England international can only improve in the coming years.

Tottenham manager Pochettino has shown that he can improve players. You only have to look at the progress made by Kyle Walker over the past three years to realise that.

Harry Kane and Dele Alli have also improved massively under Pochettino, and one can understand Tottenham signing Barkley and then the manager converting him into a central midfielder.

However, would Barkley be willing to change his game in order to play for Tottenham?