Chelsea Transfer News: Ross Barkley Set to Spark Manchester City Battle

Updates from Thursday, Sept. 25

Roberto Martinez gave little time during Thursday's press conference to reports linking Ross Barkley to Manchester City and Chelsea.

Martinez, speaking ahead of Saturday's Merseyside derby, was quoted as saying by Everton's official Twitter:

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Despite committing his future to Everton last summer by signing a new four-year deal, speculation about the future of Ross Barkley is never far away from the back pages. 

And according to Richard Tanner of the Express, Manchester City will go head-to-head with Chelsea in the race for the 20-year-old’s signature, although Everton currently value their young midfielder at a staggering £50 million.

Barkley has missed the entirety of the current Premier League campaign with injury, but under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez, the youngster from Wavertree enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2013-14, terrorising defences with a coalescence of wonderful dribbling, blistering pace and his powerful frame.  

The Everton boss has long branded Barkley a "unique talent," per Henry Winter of The Telegraph, and the club’s willingness to keep hold of their player was confirmed in the summer, as the Goodison Park outfit made a big statement by tying down their prized asset.  

Chelsea are a club that could offer Barkley plenty should a deal be struck. Jose Mourinho’s side are looking like the overwhelming favourites for the Premier League title this season, and the Stamford Bridge club are in a position where they could blow the Toffees out of the water in terms of the financial incentives they could offer the player.

Here are a few reasons why the Blues are looking at the prodigious youngster:

But should Evertonians be worried about the prospect of Barkley walking out the Goodison Park door? Will another lad that bleeds Everton blue walk out the door, as was the case with Wayne Rooney 10 years ago? At this juncture, the answer is probably not.

The comparisons with Rooney are understandable. A capricious young talent flourishing on Merseyside, then starring for England and then lured away by a team challenging at the very peak of the Premier League. But there are some pretty big differences, too.

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Perhaps most notably, as a football club the Toffees are in a much better position now than they were 10 years ago.

If an offer were to come in for Barkley of £50 million, it’d be naive not to consider it, but Martinez and Everton chairman Bill Kenwright have both reaffirmed on myriad occasions that the club is under no financial pressure to sell any assets, per the Liverpool Echo (h/t Paul Collins of Mail Online), something that wasn’t the case 10 years previous. 

It's something Ell Bretland of the Mail Online touched on:

Upon signing his bumper new deal, Barkley spoke of how gutted he was himself as a young Evertonian to see Rooney walk out on his boyhood club, per Phil Kirkbride of the Liverpool Echo:

"

I knew what it meant to me when Rooney left because he was one of the better players at the time.

We thought Everton could’ve pushed on at the time but when he left we were all down. I know how the fans felt and I just wanted to sign and push on for Everton.

"

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Barkley seems like a young man who has his head screwed on, too, and he’s a player who was born and bred on the streets of Merseyside, a player who's always dreamed of scoring goals and winning trophies with Everton.

Indeed, last season the youngster revealed a conversation he had with Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard about succeeding with your club, per Dominic King of the Mail Online:

"

He’s done that throughout his career. He said playing is the main thing, going to another team and not playing would be no good for my development.

I was a bit star-struck when I first joined up but Steven was good to me when I was away. I sat next to him on the coach and he gave me loads of advice. He said the big hitters are going to be looking at me but the main thing for me is to stay with the club I’m at, the team I support and love, which is Everton. 

"

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Barkley’s immovable allegiance to the Toffees is something that’s indisputable. But he also seems acutely aware of the fact that if he moves to Manchester City or Chelsea, his time on the pitch will be far from guaranteed. Something that is thoroughly understandable when he'd be competing with the likes of David Silva and Samir Nasri or Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard. 

He’s a player who will look at Jack Rodwell—another highly rated Everton academy graduate—who’s potentially disintegrated in the Manchester City development squad and the Carrington treatment room following his move from Goodison Park.

Alan Brazil of talkSPORT looks at other examples of young English stars who have faltered following a move to one of England’s elite outfits: 

The big hitters will come for Barkley, and if he was to join up with Mourinho at Chelsea, he’d be a fine addition to their squad. But his heart seems sated at Goodison Park and at this very early stage of his career, he’d be best suited listening to the advice of the Liverpool skipper; something Everton supporters probably never thought they’d say.