Barkley wage demands complicate transfer to Tottenham Hotspur

According to the Mirror, Ross Barkley thinks he should be paid more than Harry Kane. Yes, you read that right. He thinks he is worth more than the highest scoring player in the entire English Premier League from the last two terms. The number he is asking for is reported at £150k a week which is £30k more than Kane or keeper Hugo Lloris.

No word yet on whether anyone checked Ross for a knock on the skull when he made these demands, but now it is naturally causing issues for the notoriously frugal Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs have arguably the strictest wage structure of major clubs in England, and it has led them to a respectable degree of on field success and financial stability. With a new stadium in the works, and the expenditure that comes with it, there is no change in sight for their mindset, nor should there be on account of a player like Barkley with no truly competitive market for his contribution.

This transfer saga has played out far longer than is reasonable. At each point, the three parties involved, both clubs and the player, have had a hand in the delays. Everton started with a surprisingly high asking price, Tottenham has been hot and cold as to how interested they actually are, but these wage demands from Barkley really take the cake.

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It raises legitimate questions as to what Ross’ play really is here. Does he actually want to move? Or is this some sort of elaborate exercise to get Everton to raise his wages and guarantee him a starting place among all these new arrivals? My intuition is that it is the latter. There is simply no line or reasoning that would make him think that his services justify this wage, there is no real reason why he should want to leave his boyhood club. If there is a prediction to be made here, I would say that come the end of the transfer window Ross Barkley will still be a Toffee on an improved contract. It is simply a shame he has burned through so much built up goodwill and caused so much consternation amongst his fans in the process.