Ross Barkley

[Vesper 27,378]

Aston Villa receive 'big fee' warning over permanent Ross Barkley transfer from Chelsea

Ross Barkley has enjoyed an impressive start to life at Villa but Gabby Agbonlahor thinks the midfielder's form could work against Dean Smith's side when it comes to a potential permanent transfer

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ross-barkley-aston-villa-chelsea-19258346

Gabby Agbonlahor has warned Aston Villa they face paying a huge fee for Ross Barkley if the Chelsea midfielder keeps playing the way he is.

Barkley has enjoyed a fine start to life at Villa Park since his season-long loan move from Stamford Bridge, already underlining his status as a key player for Dean Smith.

There is no option-to-buy included in the loan agreement, meaning the ball is in Chelsea's court when it comes to the 26-year-old's long-term future.

Villa would love to keep Barkley if his partnerships with the likes of Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins continue to blossom but Agbonlahor believes the former Everton player's early form could work against them.

He told Football Insider: "There’s no rush. I think at the moment they’ve got him on loan for the season, they’ll see how he does all through the season and then judge the situation at the end of the season.

"It might be something they want to make permanent at the end of the season.

snip

[Fernando 6,378]

I think 40 million would do. 

[Milan 17,835]

He has done his hammy in minute 1, really feel for him.

[OneMoSalah 8,616]

3 hours ago, Milan said:

He has done his hammy in minute 1, really feel for him.

The curse of Ross Barkley.

When he was here and fully fit he was average at best. When he finally built up some steam he would get an injury. Has started well at Villa and the injury is a shame but to be expected at some point as he has a history of injuries. 

[Vesper 27,378]

How do Aston Villa cope without Ross Barkley?

https://theathletic.com/2216018/2020/11/23/ross-barkley-injury-villa/

It’s only when Ross Barkley glances up at the scoreboard to see the game is not even three minutes old that his anger starts to kick in.

In taking the first attacking free kick of Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, the on-loan Chelsea midfielder has pulled a hamstring and is finished before he’s even started. After dropping to the turf, self-assessing the damage and calling for assistance, Barkley begins to process the unfortunate setback.

When he awkwardly rises to his feet and looks up at the match clock, a shake of the head is followed by a frustrated frown. There’s an icy stare at the medic tasked with comforting him in his time of need and then the England international throws his arms up in rage. Only now is it sinking in that a spell on the sidelines is likely.

The injury leaves him unlikely to feature in next Monday’s trip to West Ham United and he is now a major doubt for the games that follow leading into the festive period.

Early indications suggest Barkley is likely to be out for weeks rather than months. “Ross seems fairly hopeful that he won’t be out for too long,” said head coach Dean Smith after the Brighton defeat.

Regardless of the time frame, it is a massive blow for Villa.

In a squad already light on attacking reinforcements, this is about as bad for them as it gets (aside from an injury to captain, talisman and star performer Jack Grealish).

Barkley has already had a major impact on the team’s fortunes this season. It was his scintillating performances in victories over Liverpool and Arsenal that gave Villa an edge. With two goals and an assist in his five full appearances, he has certainly hit the ground running.

Smith knows about his importance, too. He described Barkley as a marquee signing, thanking Chelsea for letting him borrow the 26-year-old.

Like many others, Barkley is a guaranteed starter in a Villa line-up that pretty much picks itself these days. A new-found stability, mixed with what feels like the perfect balance between defence and attack, has helped them to five wins from eight so far this season.

Barkley has changed the dynamic. According to Smith, he produced the highest number of high-intensity sprints during his first three games for the club and offers the kind of ball-carrying ability that has been lacking from central areas in previous seasons. He’s direct and purposeful and has not only linked up well with Grealish but also taken some of the opposition’s focus away from the Villa skipper.

So, where do they turn without him?

Injuries are starting to stack up, with Keinan Davis also absent against Brighton with a minor ankle injury. Bertrand Traore (No 15) was the only forward on the bench, yet he has spent the last two seasons playing in a wide right role for Lyon, and when he was introduced to replace Barkley he fitted in almost as an attacking central midfielder.

While Traore matched Barkley’s free-kick taking qualities with a pinpoint assist for Ezri Konsa, he only managed one touch in the opposition box all game (see below).

There wasn’t the same drive to get into the box and link up with striker Ollie Watkins.

Look at the positions Barkley got into during the 3-0 win over Arsenal (below) — the last time he played a full match. With eight touches in the box and plenty around the edges of it, the difference is clear.

Against Brighton, Traore and Trezeguet also seemed to be competing for play down the right side of the pitch rather than complementing each other’s game.

 

Smith now faces a selection dilemma, as he must decide how to get the right balance against a West Ham side who have impressed already this season.

Traore is certainly the bolder, more attack-minded of the options but Villa won’t get much in terms of defensive discipline from him. That’s not where his strengths lie.

Conor Hourihane, meanwhile, won’t offer trickery and the ability to go past players in the same way as the ex-Lyon winger, but may tighten things up defensively and offer greater support to Douglas Luiz, which in turn could free John McGinn. While the Irishman couldn’t change the game in the short time he had on the pitch over the weekend, he certainly played his part in the early-season wins over Sheffield United and Fulham before losing his place to new arrival Barkley.

As harsh as his omission was, he was always likely to be the fall-guy as Smith sees his full-strength midfield as consisting of Luiz, McGinn and Barkley. That trio have started the last six games.

If ever there’s a positive to take from such a setback it’s that 19-year-old Jacob Ramsey might force his way back into the squad. Ramsey has been the 19th man for the last few games and restricted to a watching brief followed by a warm-down with the unused substitutes at full-time.

Villa are very much about producing their own players moving forward and there’s no greater talent coming through the ranks than Ramsey right now, but to focus on that would be missing the point.

Barkley is a seasoned Premier League player, a game-changer and one of Villa’s shining lights.

It took Grealish a month to persuade him to join on loan, as well as a promise from Smith to give him the regular games he needs to force a way back into the England set-up ahead of next summer’s European Championship.

Injury setbacks were certainly not in the script and there is no doubt Villa need him fit to remain in the top-half this season, especially in these months before they are able to sign more players in January.

When the last transfer deadline passed, the concern was what would happen when there was an injury or suspension. The widespread opinion was that Villa were left one, if not two, attacking players light.

That time has now come and the weeks ahead will show us how equipped, or not, they are.

[NikkiCFC 7,601]

Will be out probably till mid December. 

[Jase 43,479]

Just the 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 12 games for Villa.

4 goals and 1 assist overall this season.

[Jase 43,479]

Really can't help but notice that the Ross Barkley PR machine has gone very quiet... 💀

[ZAPHOD2319 3,896]

We really need a flurry of goals to get a good price. Our midfield already has too many people.

[King Kante 1,324]

58 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

We really need a flurry of goals to get a good price. Our midfield already has too many people.

We aren't selling him unless he gets 10+ or something. Even then, it will just show how patchy he is. At best we get another loan with a £5m fee of something. No one is covering his £120k wages a week. 

[OneMoSalah 8,616]

2 hours ago, King Kante said:

We aren't selling him unless he gets 10+ or something. Even then, it will just show how patchy he is. At best we get another loan with a £5m fee of something. No one is covering his £120k wages a week. 

For the cash we will want Villa could find a much better player. Lets hope their not smart enough and end up buying him from us. He cost us 15m, if they offer more than 20m we should take it. One of the most overrated and overwhelming English players in the PL at the moment. I mean even some Villa fans are unsure if he is worth trying to buy for the £35m price because he doesn’t win games for them enough.

Edited March 3, 2021 by OneMoSalah

[Vesper 27,378]

Ross Barkley: no England, struggling at Villa, not wanted at Chelsea. So what now?

https://theathletic.com/2484274/2021/03/31/ross-barkley-no-england-struggling-at-villa-not-wanted-at-Chelsea-so-what-now/

Another campaign is heading towards its conclusion and Chelsea have a familiar question to answer: what are they going to do with Ross Barkley?

The west London club had hoped to be in a win-win situation by now. When they agreed to Barkley’s request to join Aston Villa on a season-long loan last September, the plan was for the attacking midfielder to either play well enough to earn a spot in Chelsea’s squad next season or for his form to earn a big-money permanent switch (whether to Villa or elsewhere).

As things stand, neither outcome is assured. After a very bright start to his spell with Dean Smith’s side, Barkley finds himself in a familiar situation — struggling for consistency and starts in the first team.

It is why instead of fulfilling the ambition of playing his way back into the England side ahead of the European Championship, Barkley’s dreams of featuring in the tournament are all but over after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest squad.

How Chelsea must rue this scenario, too. Barkley has impressed under Southgate in the past, earning 11 of his 33 caps under the England manager, but hasn’t featured since October 2019. If he was part of a national team challenging for silverware this summer, it certainly would have boosted his profile and value in the market.

There is still time for the situation to be salvaged. The sight of Jack Grealish returning to training at Aston Villa after six weeks out with a leg injury provides some optimism because the duo combined so well in the first few months.

Back then, Barkley registered three goals and an assist in his first nine appearances (all competitions), which included a superb display in the remarkable 7-2 victory over Liverpool. However, a hamstring strain sustained in November at the end of that nine-game run ruled him out until the New Year and halted his momentum. Since then, he has found the net just once — against Southampton in January, which was also the last time he played a full 90 minutes.

Without Grealish, a close friend who lobbied strongly last summer for him to make the loan switch, he has really struggled. In the last four matches, Barkley has only been used as a substitute. Hardly a promising sign he is a part of Smith’s long-term plans.

Aston Villa supporters have complained about a dip in performance levels and as the table below demonstrates, his attacking metrics have declined since returning from injury.

Some quick definitions for the uninitiated: expected goals (xG) are a measure of the quality of shot locations based on historical data and can be used to assess how many good chances a player is getting. Expected assists (xA) looks at a player’s creativity by measuring the xG value of shots created by an individual (ie, the likelihood that a certain pass leads to an assist).

Barkley’s primary role at Aston Villa is to be a creative force in the final third — Smith has mostly employed him as a No 10 — but he is still expected to contribute defensively by harrying opponents to force a mistake and/or to win back possession.

However, the numbers don’t make good reading here either. He is trying to press. This graphic shows he averages 12.9 pressures per 90 minutes, which is the same amount as Grealish has registered. However, the success of those pressures (how often his team regain possession within five seconds of him making the pressure) is one of the lowest in the Villa squad at 23 per cent.

This might suggest he is showing intent to regain the ball but lacks the intensity to force the opposition into an error that leads to a turnover of possession.

Other defensive statistics also do not show him in a good light. His return of 1.5 “true” tackles (tackles plus challenges lost and fouls made in the attempt of winning possession) is the lowest-ranked out of the 64 central and defensive midfielders in the Premier League with at least 900 minutes played. Of the few tackles he does make, his success rate (27.3 per cent) is also the lowest of that group.

As you can also see below, his similar ranking for “true” interceptions (interceptions and blocked passes) highlights how he does not make too many defensive actions for Villa when out of possession.

Given he is mostly employed high up the pitch, Barkley is inevitably going to have inferior figures to a midfielder playing a bit deeper. But Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel expects his attackers to defend from the front and be very active in this regard, so this return isn’t going to impress the German in view of giving him a role at Stamford Bridge next season.

The option to buy was not included in Aston Villa’s loan deal. The thinking was to see how Barkley did over the course of the schedule and judge whether he was durable enough.

Owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens are expected to invest heavily in the market to build on the positives of this season. Funds will be made available to improve the attacking areas, but with Chelsea looking for a significant sum if they are to sell — a minimum of £30-35 million — that would threaten the club record fee Aston Villa spent on Ollie Watkins (an initial £28 million rising to £33 million if add-ons are triggered) for a player who has yet to convince.

Barkley, whose £120,000-a-week salary is being paid in full by Villa and will likely remain a significant cost to be met if he moves on, is also still believed to have ambitions of playing for Chelsea or a club of their stature challenging for major silverware. Aston Villa do not meet that description yet.

In other words, it is looking unlikely at this stage that Barkley will join Villa on a permanent basis. With a little over two years remaining on his contract, that leaves Chelsea in a difficult situation in terms of what to do next. Things get messy and transfer value can be lost the closer it gets to a contract expiring.

Understandably, neither Chelsea nor Tuchel have made any definitive decisions regarding Barkley yet. Chelsea’s head coach, who only replaced Frank Lampard in late January, has been primarily focusing on the task at hand — a top-four finish, plus competing for the FA Cup and Champions League — with the players he currently has on-site.

Pre-season will give Barkley a chance to impress. But competition for places is rife, whether Tuchel opts to continue with the 3-4-2-1 formation or employs another system.

Tuchel already has Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi to choose from as one of the attacking midfielders in the 3-4-2-1. Then there is Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is on loan at Fulham, to consider, too.

How does Barkley compare with this group? Well, despite the shortcomings highlighted above, he is actually measuring up quite well creatively (although it should be pointed out that Ziyech, Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi had not registered enough minutes in the more central areas to feature in the table below).

Barkley is producing a strong output when playing in a central or attacking midfield role. He is edging it for the most shots (2.5 per 90 minutes), with a goal rate (0.24 per 90) of one every four games. Indeed, only Werner is getting better chances on average when playing in a No 10 role, from looking at each player’s xG.

Furthermore, when in that central position, Barkley’s 0.23 xA per 90 also tops the list among his peers. This means the quality of his passes would expect him to get an assist once every four games.

Indeed, this creativity has been steadily increasing across his career.

Barkley’s xA per 90 are at a career-high — as the table below shows. Put simply, he is passing the ball into strong dangerous areas for his team-mates to score.

But getting him fit and performing on a regular basis is a key challenge. At 27 years old, Barkley should be approaching his prime, but his overall progress has stalled somewhat. He has started just 42 Premier League games since leaving Everton for Chelsea in January 2018. That is clearly not enough.

Chelsea want to spend big again and are one of the clubs keen to buy Erling Haaland. The need to sell talent to raise funds, especially after not raising much cash from outgoings last summer, means Barkley’s departure will be considered.

The attacking midfielder told the Guardian he has “an obsession to improve” last September.

“To put in consistent performances you need consistent game time,” he admitted.

No one right now, not even Barkley himself, knows where he will have the chance to do that next season. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,209]

Remember those members, particularly the continuous Mount bashers, that said we missed a trick loaning out Barkley instead of Mount after Villa beating Liverpool and Arsenal? Conveniently removing the notorious fact from memory that Barkley is embarrassingly inconsistent?

Edited March 31, 2021 by MoroccanBlue

[King Kante 1,324]

Barkley's wage means he will probably enter Drinky/Kepa/Batsh*t territory soon i.e. cannot be sold owing to their wage. Same with RLC. 

[Vesper 27,378]

Chelsea will have to think of Plan B for midfielder after loan club say they aren’t signing him

https://www.Chelsea-news.co/2021/04/Chelsea-will-think-plan-b-midfielder-loan-club-say-arent-signing/

 

fuck

[Magic Lamps 11,459]

Just now, Vesper said:

Chelsea will have to think of Plan B for midfielder after loan club say they aren’t signing him

https://www.Chelsea-news.co/2021/04/Chelsea-will-think-plan-b-midfielder-loan-club-say-arent-signing/

 

fuck

Not much of a surprise. he would cost a ton and has proven again to be injury prone. Other than Drinky or Batsit he can at least be a useful squad player for the odd League Cup game tho, so no worries here. Actually with TT he ight hit a short pruple patch again like he usually does under a new manager and actually start some league games. i am less hopeful that we will be able to squeeze a good performance out of the other dregs.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[OneMoSalah 8,616]

6 hours ago, Blues Forever said:

 

No surprise there. 

Nobody will buy him for the wages hes on and more so for the fact he’s not anywhere near good enough.