The Premier League Champions have bought their first senior signing of the January Window, Ross Barkley from the Merseyside. A amount of £15m confirmed the 24-year-old midfielder to sign a five-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge. This move was inevitable but delayed due to Ross’ hamstring injury. But his recovery helped Conté to complete the deal, who was a six months guest at Everton.
“I’m overwhelmed, I’m looking forward to it and I’m really excited to get started”, said Barkley and added: “To be given a fresh start at a new club like Chelsea, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m looking forward to continuing where I left off at the end of last season and hoping to improve and add more goals to my game.”
Barkley was given the No 8 shirt at Stamford Bridge previously owned by Lampard and Oscar, who had 21 goals in 150 Premier League appearances.
On that occasion the Portuguese coach said, “We’re talking about an English player, a young player, a good prospect for Chelsea.” and added: “This is a good opportunity for the club to buy this player… He’s very young, he has a lot of space for improvement. He’s very strong physically and has good technique.”
Would he be a perfect choice for the Blues? Here I may focus on 5 points that could prove to be vital for Chelsea for the rest of the season :
1.A Goal scoring Midfielder :
After Frank Lampard, Chelsea hasn’t got any potential attacking midfielder who can arrive late in the box, and help the forwards out by contributing 10+ goals a season. N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater have scored just five goals between them so far in the Premier League. Barkley scored five goals and eight assists in 32 appearances last season. So he would be a strong addition to the attacking half in their 3-5-2 formation.
2. The English Roster :
One of the major positive result of signing Barkley that he is an English. Each Premier League side is limited to having 17 non-homegrown players in their squad at the beginning of the season. If a manager wants to have two or more players for each position, they need to fill in the gaps with homegrown talent. And Barkley would be overqualified in just to fill gaps.
3. Flexibility :
He is versatile. Can play anywhere in midfield. A powerful runner on the ball, able to drive his team forward through muscle rather than finesse most of the time. He would be a tailored fit in the 5 men midfield along with Kante and co.
4. Point to Prove :
Ross Barkley arrives at Stamford Bridge with a point to prove. A disappointing end to last campaign and injury last time may trigger him to unleash his real playing ability.
5. He costs only £15m, seriously? :
One-fifth of Lukaku, half of Caroll, £15m doesn’t bring you so much these days. Chelsea have done a good business on this English International. Especially when they were inch-close to sign the midfielder for double that price just a few months ago.
