Why Ross Barkley may need to leave Chelsea to revive his career – but who would take him?

Why Ross Barkley may need to leave Chelsea to revive his career – but who would take him?

By @pbsportswriter

ROSS BARKLEY is wasting his time at Chelsea and the sooner he realises it, the better.

Once touted as the nation’s Next Big Thing, the England outcast can’t even get a game for the fifth-best team in the country, and has totally fallen off the international radar.

Everton fans, and some inside the club too, did not like the way Barkley quit in a £15m January transfer, just months after a £35m deal had been agreed with the west Londoners.

But while his move may have shown some ambition on Barkley’s part, it has turned into an unmitigated disaster.

Yes, he arrived with a hamstring injury. But he has been fit for some time now, and is further away from the first team than he was when he first arrived.

There was even a point at Wembley during Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton when he was the only outfield sub not warming up. It was like he knew there was no chance he’d get on.

Barkley’s one appearance so far in the Premier League for Antonio Conte’s side came in a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth where he lasted 54 minutes before getting the hook.

In that game, he had one shot (off-target), no assists, no big chances created, no crosses and no throughballs.

He’s had just 17 minutes on the pitch during Chelsea’s run to the FA Cup final, getting on with his team already 3-0 up against Newcastle four months ago.

Before that, on his debut, he managed an hour off the bench in their 2-1 EFL Cup defeat at Arsenal, when he took an age to get ready and got a rocket from his new manager.

Now fit again after his injury, he’s been an unused substitute in their last three league games as well as that semi final.

It feels like Barkley is the wrong player at the wrong club, working for the wrong manager.

Did Conte really want him or did Chelsea just see a English player of a good age, going for a good price, who could add to the squad’s not overly large quota of homegrown players.

Conte has often praised Barkley’s commitment but also continues to call him “a young player with great potential”. He’s 24.

Will he play against Liverpool this Sunday? It’s unlikely. Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro are all ahead of him in the wide positions, and Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas ahead of him in midfield.

Barkley has five years left on his contract. If Conte goes in the summer, he could get a chance under a new manager.

But at the same time, Chelsea will go back into the transfer market, and they have Ruben Loftus Cheek to bring back from his loan at Crystal Palace.

Maybe Barkley needs to make a similar move. Loftus-Cheek went out on loan to get more playing time, and ended up in the England squad.

A similar move could reignite Barkley’s career. But how many teams would take him? Newcastle? Watford? West Ham? Chelsea would almost certainly have to subsidise his wages.

He is undoubtedly a huge talent. Even Conte called him a “complete player” when he signed, praising his stamina, technical ability, physical strength, and pace.

But a series of coaches who have worked with Barkley have questioned his decision-making. Will he ever improve on that flaw in his game?

Barkley is clearly a player who needs to be loved. He needs a manager that believes in him and wants to build a team around him.

He had that under Roberto Martinez at Everton, and it’s true that he thrived at times at Goodison Park.

Over the course of the previous two seasons, Dele Alli was the only English midfielder to record more goals and assists (44) than Barkley (29).

And only Mesut Ozil, Christian Eriksen and Kevin De Bruyne matched him in posting at least eight assists in both of those campaigns.

Yet Barkley has still managed a total of only 18 assists in his whole career in the Premier League – Fabregas managed that in one season (2014-15).

Can he still become the player so many Evertonians wanted him to be, and doubtless many Chelsea fans still hope he can be?

Martinez, who once called Barkley “the best English talent I have seen”, was recently asked a similar question about his former player.

He replied: "When I came here in 1995 the first coaches I had wanted to highlight my weaknesses and ask me to become better.

“They weren't too bothered about what I could do really well. So I became an average player.

“In the case of Ross Barkley you shouldn't concentrate on what he can't do. It's what he can bring, and his talent is of the highest level to have a specific role in the team. He needs to find himself again and kick on."

Whether that is at Chelsea remains to be seen.

ends