Ex-Arsenal star Charlie Nicholas has revealed that he was shocked when Englishman Ross Barkley decided to move to Chelsea.
When he made his move from Everton to Chelsea in the January transfer window earlier this summer in a £15 million deal, Barkley was tipped to be a success story for sure. However, the talented English midfielder was sparingly used by then manager Antonio Conte the last term.
Cut to right now, Barkley is one of the key players for Maurizio Sarri and is showing exactly why there was so much hype around him. Barkley has flourished under the Italian Sarri and will now come up against his boyhood club Everton on Sunday.
But according to former Scottish international Charlie Nicholas, Barkley would have been even better if he remained at Merseyside with Everton.
While speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports, the 56 year old Scotsman explained that Barkley would have been a better fit under current Everton boss Marcos Silva, but also added that he is progressing well at Chelsea, “Probably well, I think it would have been a benefit for him (playing under Silva), I think he likes those creative players. But the lad had been drifting for a while, he’s been drifting along. I never really felt convinced he understood the situation or where he was going. I think we were all quite surprised that he picked Chelsea and if he was going to get in the team. It’s taken quite a bit of time and for a new manager to come in and say ‘I like your technical ability but you’ve got to move on’.
Nicholas stated that Barkley is doing well under Sarri as he is still trying to figure out the best position for himself, “We were touching on it last week – maturing, being wiser about when to pass when to be aware. That No 10 position playing against teams that don’t get a lot of possession is very difficult. You’re trying to force and make everything interesting when you can, but you’ve got to do the basics right. But the lad’s career has moved on, he’s back in the international setup and he’s playing very well at the moment. So the signs are good for him.”
I think that Barkley has a great future ahead of him if he remains injury free. Chelsea fans could probably find the 24-year-old as a replacement for Frank Lampard because Barkley does have the quality and the ability to achieve great things.
