Tottenham are reportedly leading the chase for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, and Mauricio Pochettino could make his move this summer.
The 23-year-old continues to face an uncertain future at Goodison Park as he has yet to sign a contract extension, which in turn has led to speculation regarding a move to north London.
According to The Daily Mail, Everton want him to extend with his current agreement expiring next summer, but constant delays could force them to cash in this summer rather than watch Barkley’s value drop significantly when he enters the final 12 months of the deal.
As per The Sun, Chelsea are set to launch a £100m double swoop for Barkley and Everton teammate Romelu Lukaku. It’s claimed £65m of that would go on the Belgian striker, thus suggesting that it will take around £35m for Spurs to enter the mix and compete with their London rivals for the Liverpudlian.
It isn’t all straight-forward from Tottenham’s side of things either though, as it’s claimed that Pochettino has had his reservations over whether or not Barkley can play in the same side as Dele Alli.
While adding the former to his squad would be a major boost, the Argentine tactician will not want it to adversely effect Alli’s progression as he bagged his 17th goal of the season at the weekend to continue his impressive rise since arriving from MK Dons.
Nevertheless, it sounds as though that is less of an issue now as per the report and with Ronald Koeman reiterating that his players either need to sign new contracts or they will sell, it is likely to become clearer as to what Barkley intends to do sooner rather than later.
The midfield ace has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 30 appearances in all competitions so far this season, showing improvement under Koeman after initially struggling under the Dutchman.