Dean Smith has revealed what he said to Ross Barkley before the midfielder joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan deal.
As quoted by Sky Sports, the ex-Brentford boss said: ‘I sold him the project here and told him I’ll get him in the Euros squad and he’s going to try and help us win football games. He’s certainly done that in his first couple.’
It is interesting to see what Smith said to Barkley to convince him to join, seeing as the midfielder appeared to be in Frank Lampard’s plans.
Before moving to the Midlands, the 26-year-old made two Premier League appearances for the Blues, and also started a Carabao Cup game for them.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Everton academy graduate at Villa Park so far.
Barkley netted on his debut against Liverpool, contributing to a 7-2 win over his boyhood side’s bitter rivals.
Then, he marked his second appearance for the Villans with a stoppage-time winner against Leicester from long-range.
There’s no reason why he can’t make Gareth Southgate’s squad, although there is plenty more work to be done until Barkley can start thinking about that.
As Sky Sports mention, he hasn’t featured in a Three Lions squad for over a year, since scoring twice in a 6-0 win over Bulgaria.
In addition to that, Southgate is even struggling to hand the likes of Jack Grealish and James Maddison game-time for England, which emphasises just how well-stocked the nation is in that attacking-midfield department.
Having said that, there’s a reason why Chelsea splashed out £15 million to sign him from Everton. Barkley is an excellent player on his day, and it’s just down to Smith to help him discover that day more frequently.
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