Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley was offered to Championship side West Brom at the tail end of the summer transfer window, according to the Telegraph.
Barkley was previously considered one of the most promising players in the country. When he came through the ranks at Everton and broke into the first-team, there were parallels drawn to England legend Wayne Rooney.
Those comparisons haven’t aged well, with Barkley moving on to Chelsea and being exposed for the limited player that he is. To be frank, he hasn’t developed since his early 20s, with the former England international now being 27.
On paper, these ought to be his prime years, yet Barkley ended the summer window without having secured a move away from Chelsea. He’s been forced to stick around for the first-half of the season at least, and lost his number 8 shirt to Mateo Kovacic.
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It’s a sorry state of affairs, but as per the Telegraph, Barkley’s camp were working until the final moment in order to find him a move, with West Brom approached over the possibility of taking him on loan.
However, as is stated in the report, the Baggies were unable to meet Barkley’s £110k-a-week wage demands, with the move never coming to fruition and the player being left out in the cold.
Barkley is likely to leave in January, with Thomas Tuchel highly unlikely to have any use for him this campaign, but it remains to be seen who, if anyone, would be interested in signing him.