Ross Barkley looks certain to leave Everton this summer, but he’s not someone who’s needed at Arsenal.
Is Ross Barkley what Arsenal need?
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder established himself as a regular in the Everton first team during the 2013/14 season.
As is the case with a lot of young English players, he looked like a star in the making. He was a midfielder that combined smart movement with explosive dribbling and shooting; one capable of the spectacular in a position England didn’t have a lot of talent in.
Predictably, Barkley hasn’t pushed on as people expected him to.
Like many of the English talents before him, his mental development has lagged behind his physical development. What we see now is a player who can carry the ball up the field, but can’t pick the correct pass at the crucial moment, and a player who can receive the ball in dangerous areas but take too long to make a decision.
For every one brilliant moment, you get five awful ones.
At Arsenal, decision making is a crucial element in the way they play. Players are expected to be able to spot and execute the right pass quickly while under pressure. The standard is set by the likes of Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil, who are both effortless passers of the ball. With Barkley in the team, it’s easy to see Arsenal play being slowed down. While Alexis Sanchez can frustrate many with his decision making, his raw ability more than compensates for it.
Barkley has yet to reach such a point in his career, and could only ever do so under a manager with the patience to nurture him. Arsene Wenger may have that patience, but would struggle to find a place in his team for him. He’d only be a backup to either Ozil or Alexis, and doesn’t posses the work rate or defensive discipline to play as one of the two central midfielders.
Even if players were to leave, there are a number of more preferred targets to go through – the likes of Thomas Lemar and Riyad Mahrez – before you’d even consider Barkley.
Arsenal currently need players that can come in and perform straight away. Barkley is a player with a lot of potential, but not one who could come in and improve the starting eleven immediately. He’s someone you might take a gamble on if he was going for a good price and not £40m, or if we have exhausted all other options.
If Arsenal can’t sign someone like Lemar or Mahrez, and are in desperate need of another attacker, they could go Barkley. Otherwise, there’s no reason why Barkley would be a priority when there are better attackers out there.
Arsenal could replace Oxlade-Chamberlain with Ross Barkley
Arsenal could bring in Everton’s Ross Barkley if they lose Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain according to a recent report.
The Everton midfielder is due to leave Everton this summer after informing the club that he wanted a new challenge.
The only way out for Barkley appears to be up, and several of the Premier League’s top six have been linked with him. Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have been the most frequently mentioned so far.
Barkley will “100%” leave Everton
Ross Barkley will leave Everton this summer, after he rejected a contract offer from the club, according to manager Ronald Koeman.
Barkley has been linked with a move away from Merseyside all summer, as rumours circulated that he wanted to leave Everton. With only a year left on his contract, it seemed likely that Everton would either extend his contract or sell, and Koeman has now confirmed that these were the options being considered, but that Barkley isn’t interested in extending.
Ross Barkley scouted
by Nikola Banicek
With the arrival of Davy Klaassen at Everton, the transfer of Ross Barkley now seems likely and Arsenal are believed to be one of the most interested clubs in making a deal alongside Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.
The 23-year-old playmaker has spent his whole footballing career at Everton making a total of 179 appearances for the club and is one of the best players ever to have come out of their youth setup.
Last season, Barkley made 39 appearances across three different competitions, scoring six goals and grabbing nine assists.
Style and strengths
Barkley is one of the toughest midfielders in the Premier League and his physical strength combined with his 6.2ft height make him a very tough opponent to take the ball from. His presence is felt on every part of the pitch he’s used, and he has been one of the top performers for Everton in the last few seasons.
His contribution to the attacking phase has been nothing short of remarkable. He creates an average of 2.28 chances and makes 2.06 key passes per game, maintaining an 83% passing success rate.
With his playmaking abilities also comes his threat to the opposition’s goal. The England international will take his chances from anywhere inside or outside of the box. On average he makes 1.33 attempts from outside and 1.17 from the inside of the penalty area per game.
His dribbling abilities are also one of his stronger traits and the player has a rate of 65.69% successful take ons per-match.
Barkley is also very versatile and can be played on either flank of the pitch as well as in central positions, just behind the striker or in a more deep, defensive role.
Weaknesses
Even though Ross Barkley is a great asset for Everton when going forward, the midfielder often fails to make an impact in the defensive phase and his defensive contribution is possibly the greatest weakness for him and his teammates.
The player is poor at tackling and commits fouls often – 1.36 per game – while only making 0.72 successful tackles per-game.
For a rather tall player with plenty of physical strength, he wins just under 50% of his aerial duels and he could learn how to position himself better to take full advantage of his strengths.
Goals, assists & skills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48zlt5N0Qb0