Koeman ready to move on past Ross Barkley

With the days ticking down to the deadline that Everton manager Ronald Koeman set for Ross Barkley to sign a new contract at Goodison Park, it’s looking less and less likely that he will be staying with the club.

Speaking at his last pre-match press conference of the season ahead of Sunday’s tilt at Arsenal, Koeman did not sound confident at all about the prospects of the Wavertree-born remaining with the Toffees next season.

The first question was if the Dutchman had an update on Barkley and the deadline, and he was blunt.

“I don’t know.

“It’s after the game [Arsenal]. On Monday. Then we’ll know it.”

He was also asked about the importance of having Barkley on the team -

“If you offer a player a new contract, and a good contract. That means that you like to keep the player. I don’t need to explain more because if we don’t want the player to stay longer, then we don’t offer him a new contract.”

Was he confident that the player would be renewing his deal.

“No. No because it’s a long time that he is thinking about his future.

“I’m not worried because I like to work with players who like to stay. It’s not even about his decision, we will go on looking for players on that position and even when he stays, there’s more competition for him next season”

Later on he was asked about his patience levels with the player -

“I spoke to the player, the board spoke to the player and his agent. We will see what the answer will be.

“We need an answer after the weekend, I don’t know what will happen if he doesn’t give any answer. I don’t know.”