Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After Tottenham suffered the disappointment of only managing a draw with West Ham at Wembley last night, there will be more frustration this morning with the news that long term target Ross Barkley is set to move to Chelsea for a fee of £15m.
The Everton midfielder was just moments away from signing with the defending Premier League champions last August but decided against joining up with the club at the very last minute, a decision that endeared with fans of Tottenham.
Many felt that was because he was holding out for a move to the North London outfit at the turn of 2018 but there was always going to be one stumbling block to be cleared if that was to be the case. That of course being the fact that Tottenham would have to pay a fee to acquire the services of the England international.
That was always going to be the sticking point especially with Daniel Levy involved with the preference being that he would rather take his chances in the Summer when he could then land the midfielder without having to pay a transfer fee.
However that reluctance has seen Chelsea move back to the front of the queue and they have decided to put their money where there mouth is but paying the fee required for the player to swap Goodison Park for Stamford Bridge with immediate effect.
With Everton changing their manager early in the season there was always a question as to whether or not the new man in charge would be willing to hand an olive branch to Barkley in a bid to get the player back in the first team fold.
But Sam Allardyce has deemed the player surplus to requirements and the fact that he has also been able to recoup a fee can only be a bonus, those funds will more than likely give Allardyce the opportunity to add to the recruitment of Cenk Tosun yesterday.
For Tottenham it is a long time target that has slipped through their fingers and that is certainly going to draw the ire of some, perhaps Mauricio Pochettino feels he is well stocked in the centre of midfield and an addition in that position is not a necessity.
But to have Chelsea get the better of the club will not sit well with fans who will now be asking if any transfer business will be completed this month as they look to close the gap on Liverpool in fourth and the race for the final Champions League place.
