DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads
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It was November 2015 and Ross Barkley was sitting in the library of Everton’s Academy, peering into the future. The setting was appropriate. Libraries invite you to dare to dream and this enthusiastic young man’s mind was open to all kinds of possibilities.
‘As a group, we can go down in the club’s history if we are the next team to win something,’ Barkley declared, before focusing on personal goals. ‘Winning the league, winning everything really. I want to win something with England; win a few things with England, to be honest. England has the talent.’Ā
Barkley, 21 at the time, had more talent than most. He had just found a groove under Roberto Martinez at Goodison Park and Roy Hodgson had already given him 19 England caps, as well as having taken him to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
28-year-old midfielder Ross Barkley has been released from his contract with Chelsea
There had been a buzz around Barkley on Merseyside for a long, long time and there was a feeling, as he spoke, that the trajectory of his career was going to go in the direction of a firework, up and up at a rate of knots culminating in a starburst.
Powerfully built and explosive in his play, the enthusiastic Martinez had compared Barkley to Michael Ballack in his early days but during the course of this conversation, it transpired that Zinedine Zidane was the midfielder who inspired this young man the most.
The reference point for him was Zidane’s quite stupendous performance in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil, the night France’s greatest ever performer – in Barkley’s words – made “unbelievable players look ordinary.”
![DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads 2 The midfielder burst onto the scene with Everton and England but has faded in recent years](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661900901_842_DOMINIC-KING-Ross-Barkley-was-meant-to-be-a-star.jpg)
The midfielder burst onto the scene with Everton and England but has faded in recent years
Being in his presence that day, you hoped all the projections about him would come true. The 2022 World Cup was a long-term target for the FA but, with the right development and guidance, why couldn’t Barkley be central to an England team that could hit the jackpot in Qatar.
Yet here we are, 82 days out from the tournament starting, and Barkley, remarkably, finds himself without a club. As a free agent, there is no pressure on him finding a new place to play before tomorrow’s deadline but the very fact he is in this position speaks volumes about a story unfulfilled.
True, Barkley has three winners’ medals in his cabinet, the FA Cup (2018), the Europa League (2019) and the Club World Cup earlier this year, but his time at Chelsea – the move that could have catapulted him forward – was nothing other than a crashing disappointment.
![DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads 4 Thomas Tuchel was happy to release Barkley, even though he had another year on his contract](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661900901_433_DOMINIC-KING-Ross-Barkley-was-meant-to-be-a-star.jpg)
Thomas Tuchel was happy to release Barkley, even though he had another year on his contract
There were 29 Premier League starts and the same number of substitute appearances; there was a loan move to Aston Villa that started well but eventually petered out and Villa never gave any consideration to making that switch permanent. They were happy to send him back.
Worst of all, Thomas Tuchel – a coach who loves the challenge of developing players and getting the best out of them – was only too happy to sanction the cancellation of his contract, even though there was a year to go with the option for another 12 months.
Early on Monday afternoon, the Stamford Bridge club published a 201 word story on their official website, lacking emotion, with a few bare facts about what Barkley had accomplished in London and wishing him well for the future.
![DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads 6 The former Everton man is now without a club and faces tough decisions about the future](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661900901_396_DOMINIC-KING-Ross-Barkley-was-meant-to-be-a-star.jpg)
The former Everton man is now without a club and faces tough decisions about the future
What, though, does the future hold? Barkley turns 29 on the day that two last 16 matches take place in Doha but there is absolutely no hope of him being involved in Gareth Southgate’s plans; he hasn’t been sighted for England since scoring twice on his 33rd appearance in a 6-0 win against Bulgaria in Sofia, three years ago.
Such a waste. How things ended for him at Everton was unsatisfactory – he never had any camaraderie with Ronald Koeman and the Dutch coach was never convinced that Barkley understood the tactical side of the game – and it is doubtful that a return to Goodison beckons.
There was talking of Barkley coming back during the transfer window in January but whether he had the appetite for a move back to live in Liverpool is open to debate; living in the city as a high-profile individual wasn’t always easy and he didn’t necessarily make the right choices at times.
![DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads 8 He had a briefly promising loan spell at Aston Villa in 2021/2 but it petered out towards the end](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661900901_441_DOMINIC-KING-Ross-Barkley-was-meant-to-be-a-star.jpg)
He had a briefly promising loan spell at Aston Villa in 2021/2 but it petered out towards the end
Would things have turned out differently had Barkley joined Tottenham and worked under Mauricio Pochettino, as once seemed possible?
Ā It is hypothetical and we will never know but what is clear is the situation is a crying shame. A big opportunity has been squandered.
Barkley, absolutely, has the talent to do a job for someone but “doing a job” was not what we once envisaged for him. As a young boy at Everton’s Academy, Barkley would often get two buses to attend training and the hardship never mattered because he was so intent of fulfilling his dream.
![DOMINIC KING: Ross Barkley was meant to be a star for England but now finds himself at a crossroads 10 It has now been three years since the last of Barkley's 33 full England caps](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661900902_284_DOMINIC-KING-Ross-Barkley-was-meant-to-be-a-star.jpg)
It has now been three years since the last of Barkley’s 33 full England caps
‘You have seen players in the past at Everton, who have been built up, and they haven’t made the grade, the same with some players at Liverpool,’ Barkley said during his first interview with national newspapers in September 2013.
‘My mum is always keeping my feet on the ground and telling me to keep focused; to carry on working hard and it will pay off.’Ā
As he stands at this crossroad, Barkley would do well to remember that advice. He needs to work hard like never before to relight that fire. He’s too young for it to go out completely.