Michael Ball claims Ross Barkley is open to Everton return
Former Everton left-back Michael Ball has claimed that Ross Barkley would be willing to return to Goodison Park this summer.
The England international parted ways with the Merseyside outfit in 2018, having made 179 appearances for them.
At the time, Chelsea’s reported £15m paid to sign him seemed like a bargain, but his move to Stamford Bridge didn’t work out for either party involved.
Frank Lampard gave the midfielder a few chances to prove his worth but loaned him out to Aston Villa after a year where he went on to make 24 appearances this past season.
Lampard was understood to be a fan of the player – referring to him as “first-class”. [Goal]
There had been talks of Villa signing the midfielder permanently, but their stance now appears to have changed. [Birmingham Mail]
Ball believes that this could open the door for a reunion with Everton, and claims that the player is keen on a return to Goodison Park.
He told Football FanCast, “So if there’s an opportunity for Ross to come back I feel he’d probably like it and get an opportunity to prove [himself] to everyone.
“Yeah hands up, he had an opportunity to go to Chelsea, it didn’t work out for him, so if we can get him at the right price and wages, I think he’d be a good addition to the squad.”
No thank you.
Barkley appears to have burned all bridges with the Everton fans and there appears to be only a small chunk of our fanbase that wouldn’t mind him coming back to the club.
Last season, when he warmed up at the away end as Chelsea came visiting, he was subjected to jeers and had abuses hurled at him from the fans in the front rows and he’s unlikely to be popular if we do decide to bring him back.
Sentiments aside, he’s not been the same player since he left us either. He was expected to take his game to the next level when he joined Chelsea and even a loan move to Villa was a good opportunity for him to be the big fish in a small pond, but he failed at silencing his doubters at the West Midlands club either.
It will be interesting to see where he ends up this summer, but we’re quite certain that it will not be at Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, Toffees line up £18m-rated Ligue 1 alternative after cooling interest in Max Aarons – report
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