Arsenal and Chelsea are reportedly planning to register a bid for Everton star Ross Barkley in the ongoing transfer window.
The England international, who played an integral role for the Toffees last term under former boss Roberto Martinez, has struggled to replicate his old form under Ronald Koeman which has forced the Dutch tactician to criticise the under-performing 23-year old.
Speaking about the midfielder last month, the former Southampton boss had said:“First of all I don’t like to speak about Ross because every word I say about Ross is used in a negative or positive way.”
“Of course I think the player needs to improve. He needs to improve the tactical aspect of his football, out of his position, he needs to be more clinical and have more creativity in the offensive part of the team but he is working hard on that and trying to get the best out of himself. He needs to improve to be the player that maybe everyone expected when he was 18 or 19,” Koeman added.
Koeman’s public rant has put Barkley’s future at doubt and several clubs including Chelsea and Arsenal are in the race to sign the highly-rated midfielder.
Both the team are reportedly eyeing a midfielder in this transfer window and the Everton man has the potential to fulfil their desires. Chelsea are on lookout for a midfielder to replace Oscar who joined Shanghai SIPG in a whopping £60million deal last month. The Blues are also linked with Bayern Leverkusen star Hakan Calhanoglu.
On the other hand, Arsenal are in dire need of a midfielder to put an end to their unimpressive performance in the league in recent weeks. Mesut Ozil’s absence and Santi Cazorla’s injury is hurting them badly and they are now languishing fifth in the table after a series of poor results last month. Tottenham Hotspur are also in the race to sign the midfielder who will run out of a contract next season. He is yet to sign a new contract and will reportedly cost around £35million.