Moving Target – Ross Barkley

After missing out on Everton’s Ross Barkley last summer, Chelsea moved quickly to swoop in the January window.

The midfielder completed his move to Stamford Bridge last week for a a reported £15 million, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract.

Yet to feature this season due to injury, Barkley, who is eligible to play in all four competitions, revealed he should soon be ready to make his debut for the Blues:

“I’m back in training, I’m doing everything as normal and I’m very close to being ready to play games. I’ve been training for a few weeks now and I’m feeling great.”

Manager Antonio Conte rolled out a fitness update in today’s press conference ahead of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal.

“Tomorrow night is very soon for him but we must be pleased because his physical condition is very good, he’s started to have a training session with us. He needs a bit of time to work in the physical aspect, in the tactical aspect, but his condition is good”.

The History

Barkley joined Everton’s academy at the age of 11, and progressed to make his professional debut for the club in a 1-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers in August 2011.

He only went on to make five more league appearances during the 2011/12 season, prompting a loan move to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in September 2012.

The midfielder played 13 times for the Owls, scoring four goals, before spending a brief one-month loan at fellow Championship side Leeds United.

His big breakthrough came in 2013/14 after Roberto Martinez took charge at Goodison Park.

Barkley established himself as a regular starter for the Toffees, producing six goals and four assists from 34 league outings.

While suffering some dips in form over the past few seasons, Barkley has still registered an impressive 13 goals and 16 assists (averaging 151 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points) over the last two campaigns.

Capped by England at every level from U16s to U21s, Barkley made his senior debut against Moldova in September 2013.

He featured in all three matches at the 2014 World Cup, but the last of his 22 caps, which have yielded two goals and three assists, came back in May 2016.

The Prospects

Judging by Conte’s comments above, Barkley will be eased into contention – similar to fellow central midfielders Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater, who both joined Chelsea with injury concerns last summer.

However, the Italian also went on to suggest that he sees Barkley as a very versatile addition to his squad:

“I think he can play in midfield, if we play with three midfielders, or number 10 if we play 3-4-3. Ross Barkley is also a creative player. I think he has the quality to score more goals. My priority before is to convince the player to work for the team.”

Nonetheless, there’s no shortage of competition for either role.

N’Golo Kante looks nailed-on regardless, with Barkley also battling it out with Cesc Fabregas, Bakayoko and Drinkwater when the Blues operate with a 3-5-1-1 set-up.

Indeed, this formation may be Barkley’s best chance at earning a central midfield role.

His dribbling, direct running and ability to make things happen in the final third can help provide that extra spark that has sometimes been lacking in the Blues line-up in this shape.

Although frustratingly inconsistent, Barkley has at times proven himself as both a scorer and creator of goals, something that only Fabregas is capable of matching from Chelsea’s existing crop of midfielders.

So when the new arrival does return to full fitness, it is perhaps the Spaniard’s place in a 3-5-1-1 that is the most at risk.

However, there’s even an argument that Conte could consider starting both Barkley and Fabregas in front of Kante against weaker opposition, particularly at home, in order to boost the creativity from the middle of the park.

Barkley’s underlying statistics underline his greater attacking threat compared to his new team-mates.

He averaged a shot every 33.06 minutes last season, superior to Bakayoko (50.48), Fabregas (51.96), Drinkwater (70.20) and Kante (96.94) this term.

Similarly, he averaged a key pass every 34.63 minutes in 2016/17, surpassing Kante (56.83), Drinkwater (87.75 and Bakayoko (112.62).

The former Toffee does trail Fabregas (21.44) for minutes per chance created, with the Spaniard’s set-pieces key to his impressive numbers.

However, the upshot of adding another central midfielder to the pack may ultimately indicate that Conte is keener to move forward with a 3-5-1-1 – thus boosting the prospects of Eden Hazard in the role behind Alvaro Morata.

Certainly, in the 3-4-2-1 formation, it’s debatable whether Barkley has the ball-winning ability to nail down a spot in the centre of the park – in terms of minutes per successful tackle, his average of 96.8 minutes in 2016/17 fares very poorly against Kante (25.4), Drinkwater (31.9) and Bakayoko (32.5) this season.

In this system, Barkley seems more likely to vie with Pedro and Willian for a role alongside Hazard. However, when you consider that the latter pair have started just 50% of Chelsea’s league matches, with 11 teamsheet appearances each, Barkley’s pitch-time is clearly far from certain – in stark comparison to his recent times at Goodison.

Initially, at least, minutes off the bench look the likeliest scenario, with Hazard and Morata still the only viable options from the Chelsea attack for a kind upcoming schedule (LEI bha BOU wat WBA.

His Fantasy Premier League price tag of 7.3 and 9.4 valuation in the Sky Sports game also do little to boost his appeal – all the more so when Marcos Alonso is the same price in defence in FPL.

Given the intense competition for places, Barkley faces a tough task to avoid being no more than a fringe player over the coming months, keeping him on the periphery in Fantasy terms.

Further Reference

Ross Barkley Wikipedia

Ross Barkley Transfer Markt Page

Ross Barkley 2016/17 You Tube Highlights