Ross Barkley

[iceman 329]

one more English player will not be superfluous

[LDN Blue 7,903]

If he's smart as he appears, I hope he'll reject City's advances.. I hope he looks at what happened with Rodwell, Sinclair, Johnson, Richards et al.

[Rapkun 668]

one more English player will not be superfluous

At the price we sold them Lukaku at, I don't even want to imagine their asking price. and to be honest I'd rather we work on the talent we already have than look elsewhere.

[Chelsea? 892]

Ross doesn't strike me as a pivot player....

he'd played in Oscar's role if he came here.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Barkley would be a great buy I think, providing he can get over his injury and stuff.

[DH1988 1,273]

Would you guys take this?

£35m for Oscar from PSG

£32m for Barkley

Yay or nay? I'd say yes if I knew he was capable of being moulded by Jose to press players.

[Viper22 2,418]

Barkley would be a great buy I think, providing he can get over his injury and stuff.

I agree but as has been mentioned before, where would he play? He's probably best in the no.10 role but he's not as good as Oscar there and they're roughly the same age so that'd be pointless and if we were selling Oscar to get another AM in I would prefer it to be someone world class like Reus or Isco.

He couldn't play in a 2 man midfield, he's nowhere near as good as Matic or Fabregas at their respective roles, so the only viable option would be converting to a 3 man CM partnership and having him as a B2B kind of player to replace Ramires (who he is already better than). I really like the kid but for the prices being bandied around then he's nowehere near worth it. I mean we could just promote MVG, Chalobah or RLC to the first team for free....

[Viper22 2,418]

Would you guys take this?

£35m for Oscar from PSG

£32m for Barkley

Yay or nay? I'd say yes if I knew he was capable of being moulded by Jose to press players.

I reckon he is capable. BUT I reckon you could get Isco for around that money (maybe less) and he's already more of a complete player than Barkley.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I agree but as has been mentioned before, where would he play? He's probably best in the no.10 role but he's not as good as Oscar there and they're roughly the same age so that'd be pointless and if we were selling Oscar to get another AM in I would prefer it to be someone world class like Reus or Isco.

Debatable that he's not as good of a number 10 as Oscar IMO. Sure, Oscar has better defensive skills and might be slightly more rounded but Barkley is much more influential in the final third than Oscar is IMO. Barkley also has the right attributes to play Oscar's role in the team I think whilst I couldn't see Isco doing that at all, and Reus is not a number 10 whatsoever. They aren't the same age either at all... Oscar is 23, Barkley's 20.

I'd be happy with signing Barkley provided he's coming at a reasonable price.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I reckon he is capable. BUT I reckon you could get Isco for around that money (maybe less) and he's already more of a complete player than Barkley.

Disagree with that. I think Barkley is a lot more rounded because of the physical edge he has. Barkley's athleticism makes him a lot more rounded than Isco.

Isco wouldn't be able to perform Oscar's role efficiently, we'd be wasting his talents in that role. Barkley on the other hand fits in like a glove IMO.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I reckon he is capable. BUT I reckon you could get Isco for around that money (maybe less) and he's already more of a complete player than Barkley.

I think Barkley would actually be a much better fit for us (in Oscar's role). Although I'm that we're pretty much set in the AM department for some time.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Disagree with that. I think Barkley is a lot more rounded because of the physical edge he has. Barkley's athleticism makes him a lot more rounded than Isco.

Isco wouldn't be able to perform Oscar's role efficiently, we'd be wasting his talents in that role. Barkley on the other hand fits in like a glove IMO.

Barkley seems very wasteful in possession though. Tries too many dribbles that don't come off. And tries a few too many ambitious passes that don't come off.

50M is too much. I want almost a finished article for that much and he's not close yet. He's also very inconsistent.

Oscar can help control a game and help regain control while Barkley is an all out attacker only.

[Special Juan 27,429]

. Although I'm that we're pretty much set in the AM department for some time.

If Willian and Oscar don't start showing some more quality I wouldn't be surprised if both aren't shipped out come next summer.

Both are good in certain aspects but IMO both of them haven't stepped it up enough to consolidate the #10 role.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I know Oscar hasn't lit the world on fire since he moved here except just showed flashes here and there but I feel we need to be more patient with him because his potential is so high. Just seems to struggle so much with consistency.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Barkley seems very wasteful in possession though. Tries too many dribbles that don't come off. And tries a few too many ambitious passes that don't come off.

50M is too much. I want almost a finished article for that much and he's not close yet. He's also very inconsistent.

Oscar can help control a game and help regain control while Barkley is an all out attacker only.

I wouldn't want him for £50m at all, I said if we can get him for a reasonable price then go for it (i.e. £25m). He's still incredibly young and still has some decision making issues but IMO he's a lot more dangerous than Oscar is in the final third but I believe he could also perform Oscar's role in the team right now pretty well.

I disagree that he's an all out attacker only, there's a lot more to his game. IMO he's best as a B2B midfielder.

[Nike 373]

Barkley doesnt know what a pass is.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I wouldn't want him for £50m at all, I said if we can get him for a reasonable price then go for it (i.e. £25m). He's still incredibly young and still has some decision making issues but IMO he's a lot more dangerous than Oscar is in the final third but I believe he could also perform Oscar's role in the team right now pretty well.

I disagree that he's an all out attacker only, there's a lot more to his game. IMO he's best as a B2B midfielder.

If he didn't loose the ball so much he could possibly be a mid. But he can't be so wasteful and be a midfielder. That would do more harm than good.

He's very direct. Either he'll go through you or loose the ball. Hence why I call him an all out attacker because he's very good at attacking (with his dribbling and running) and not much else.

[Viper22 2,418]

Debatable that he's not as good of a number 10 as Oscar IMO. Sure, Oscar has better defensive skills and might be slightly more rounded but Barkley is much more influential in the final third than Oscar is IMO. Barkley also has the right attributes to play Oscar's role in the team I think whilst I couldn't see Isco doing that at all, and Reus is not a number 10 whatsoever. They aren't the same age either at all... Oscar is 23, Barkley's 20.

I'd be happy with signing Barkley provided he's coming at a reasonable price.

I said roughly the same age... Oscar is 2 years and 3 months older. I'll admit I thought Oscar was younger though. But you cannot possibly suggest that Barkley is as good a number 10 as Oscar? Oscar starts for Brazil, Barkley won't start for England for the foreseeable future (rightly or wrongly, it's just a fact), with Sterling and Rooney ahead of him. I really REALLY rate Barkley, I even think he's got more potential than Sterling, and he's the best young English player out there. If we were going to sign any English player i'd like it to be him. But he is NOT good enough (yet) to be playing 10 for a team which is the best in England and one of the top 4 in Europe. He has the potential to be good enough and I wouldn't be fussed if he did sign for us, but I just think that there are other players around who are more complete players currently (e.g. Reus) and players with more potential and are better already too (e.g. Isco).

Btw, as a quick note, I know Reus can't play 10, but he can play RW, so we could sign him and either drop Willian or move him to CAM instead of Oscar. Either way our team would be much stronger. Dropping Oscar for Barkley would at best keep the quality in our team the same.

Barkley is great on the ball and an excellent dribbler, but with Schurrle/Willian and Hazard on the wings we already have direct dribbling AMs, we need at 10 a creative/goalscoring player, and Oscar fits that bill much better than Barkley. You can't see Isco doing Oscar's role as a 10? You obviously neglected to watch him at Malaga then mate, he was absolute quality there for them, and has been very good for Madrid when he's actually been given a chance.

In conclusion though, although I think Isco would be a better signing (not to mention cheaper) and Reus is one of the top 20 players in the world even if we'd have to shift either him or Hazard to accommodate him (and if the release clause story is true then much cheaper, unbelievably), i'd be happy for us to sign Barkley instead (he's English after all which is a big plus) providing the fee is at the very max £30million.