Everton expecting boyhood Blue to leave in January transfer window

For those Everton fans who were hoping against hope that Ross Barkley would change his mind about leaving the club after Ronald Koeman was sacked, it’s not happening.

Despite what appear to be Sam Allardyce’s best efforts, the boyhood Blue seems determined to not sign a new deal with the club and will have to be sold by Everton during this January transfer window.

Barkley’s contract expires at the end of this season, and the Toffees will need to oversee a transfer this month to ensure that they get some return on the 14 years of his development at the club.

Unfortunately, with how public his refusal to extend has been, the Blues have no leverage at all with transfer fees. If no other bidders show up, he could well go for a meagre sum towards the end of the window to either Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur, who are the only teams interested in the playmaker.

Speaking to the media today, Allardyce sounded resigned regarding the player’s future.

“I think that we are resigned and the club was resigned before I got here that we’re going to lose Ross and I can’t see that changing.

”I expect there would be some interest some time in this window if there’s going to be any interest from one of the big boys.”

When asked about his physical condition as he continues his rehabilitation, Allardyce added -

“He’s back in training full-time. It’s a little bit like James McCarthy and Yannick Bolasie. When he comes back the touch won’t be quite as good as it used to be and the match fitness won’t be quite as good as it used to be.

“Like James and like Yannick and Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines we’ll have to suffer that until we get them back up to speed.

”We’ve had a lot of injuries. Unfortunately we’re top of the league for the wrong reason and we need to address that one.”

It’s unlikely Everton will field Barkley this month however, with the inherent risk that he could get injured again. If that were to happen then that would end any chance of the club selling him and be forced to see him walk for free at the end of an utterly wasted season, for both the player and Everton.