Tottenham could be set to make a late move for Everton’s Ross Barkley just hours before the January transfer window slams shut.
Bookmakers Marathonbet have set their odds at 2/1 for Barkley’s next club to be Tottenham Hotspur, making them the favourites ahead of Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Spurs are yet to make a move in the winter transfer window as yet, and could be tempted to break the bank on deadline day, as they did to secure the services of Moussa Sissoko. However, things haven’t quite gone to plan since for the Frenchman after he declined the opportunity to move to Goodison Park.
Mauricio Pochettino would have been frustrated and puzzled watching his team struggle to beat League Two Wycombe on Saturday. It took a late, late Heung-min Son strike to get past Gareth Ainsworth’s side at White Hart Lane, and Pochettino said that ‘we have a problem’ if certain players in the Spurs squad cannot perform in a game of this kind.
With a tricky FA Cup fifth round tie away at Fulham to negotiate in February, a return to the Europa League and the Premier League all to juggle in the next few months for Mauricio Pochettino, he might be tempted to make a late move in order to improve his squad depth moving forward into this period.
How likely is the move?
Despite the odds being set at 2/1, lower than I have previously seen, I still think that this move is highly unlikely. Ross Barkley has repeatedly been challenged by Everton manager Ronald Koeman to up his game on the football pitch.
It has previously been reported that Barkley will not be moving to White Hart Lane on the cheap if a move does go ahead. It has been suggested that the Englishman will cost a club-record equalling £30m to bring to N17.
In my opinion, it would be a complete waste of money, paying money for an inconsistent 23-year-old, who I think does not have too much potential to kick on. For me, what we are seeing at Everton from Barkley is exactly what Tottenham would be getting.
I am sure that Mauricio Pochettino’s attention will be fully focused on tonight’s Premier League fixture against Sunderland at the Stadium Of Light, and any business that he would have wanted to get done, would have been done by now.
