New in Chelsea, yet already planning his exit

At £15 million, Ross Barkley was possibly a smart piece of January transfer business.

The believers saw a player who was young, strong, had some pace, was versatile… a man who seemingly had untapped reserves of skill waiting to be extracted and put to a Blue cause. All it would take was some time, some coaching and an opportunity.

The doubters looked at how he appeared to under-deliver for an Everton team which gave him every chance to succeed and they doubted that he had the football IQ or the skill to compete at Chelsea’s level.

Five months later and we’re still waiting to find out who was right. Is the real Ross Barkley the 12-goal, 11-assist huge potential Ross Barkley of 2015-16? Or is it the Ross Barkley of blind alleys runs, wasted shots and missed passing opportunities, who’s already peaked at 24?

His career at Chelsea has literally been hamstrung. Everton were willing to sell him and his expiring contract for a knock-off price in January because he missed the entire first half of the season with hamstrings that wouldn’t heal. That he couldn’t mend was a surprise — this was a player who’d logged over 3,000 minutes each of the previous two seasons.

Nor did his fortunes improve once installed at Chelsea. In his first four months, he managed three appearances, all in January, before once again succumbing to muscle problems. He only made his way back for one more appearance, a decent performance in an otherwise dreadful game against Newcastle. It’s been difficult for Chelsea, for the fans and not least for Ross Barkley himself.

So stories of possible disgruntlement shouldn’t come as a surprise.