Everton star is said to be open to a move to London, but would the clubs interested be overpaying for his services?
Everton’s Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley is ready to leave Everton this summer and move to London, reports the Evening Standard, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all said to be on alert.
The Metro has added that it will cost £35m to prise the midfielder away from Goodison Park, with the 23-year-old rated as one of the brightest young English talents in the Premier League.
However, could Barkley’s place as an England international be encouraging too much expectation and as a result, an inflated price-tag?
English players generally come with a valuation that far exceeds that of other nationalities and often this can lead to said player failing to live up to the hype. Think Andy Carroll at Liverpool, Shaun Wright-Phillips at Chelsea, or even John Stones at Manchester City.
Ross Barkley celebrates scoring the third goal for Everton
Barkley undoubtedly has talent, but even this season Toffees manager Ronald Koeman has questioned whether the Englishman is realising it – dropping him for games with Manchester City and Manchester United and publicly asking for more from the midfielder.
The question the London trio thought to be interested need to ask themselves is would they be paying £35m for a foreign midfielder at the same level as Barkley?
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