23-year-old wants to leave Everton in attempt to rescue international career – report

Sat 24 June 2017 18:50, UK

By Harvey Byrne

Everton academy graduate Ross Barkley wants to leave Everton in an attempt to rescue his England career, according to a report.

The Sun have claimed on their website that the 23-year-old wants regular first team football to make sure he is in the thoughts of Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate for next summer’s World Cup.

However, with the signing of Davy Klaassen from Ajax this summer, Barkley is now expected to be behind the Dutchman in the Toffees’ attacking midfield pecking order.

The young attacker has already been capped 22 times by England, but last summer he failed to play a single minute in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 campaign.

Additionally, he was omitted from Sam Allardyce’s first Three Lions squad and he has not played for his country since a friendly against Australia in May 2016.

The player’s future at Everton has also been thrown into doubt in recent months with there being no development on his contract situation, which is set to expire in 2018 and after playing 179 times for the club, he could now be set for a departure this summer.

Football Insider verdict:

Barkley needs first team football if he is going to put himself inside of the thoughts of Southgate and he certainly won’t be the only player looking to move this summer with the World Cup next year. The attacker was previously thought of as one of England’s brigthest prospects when breaking through. However, for whatever reason it simply has not worked out for him and a change in scenery may be what’s best for his career next. It could now just be a matter of how much Everton value him at and how much clubs are willing to pay for a player nearing the end of their contract.