Chelsea make new bid for Everton midfielder; set to beat Spurs to signing after ‘accelerated talks’ — report

Well, that escalated quickly.

Rumors of a renewed Chelsea bid for Ross Barkley, who’s contract is expiring in six months, have persisted ever since the Everton midfielder rejected a chance to complete a move to Stamford Bridge in the waning hours of the summer transfer window. Barkley cited his own injury as the reason for the change of mind back then — he hasn’t played all season in fact, after undergoing surgery in July — though it seemed like that he really wanted to join Spurs instead. But that’s not the case anymore, with Spurs apparently wanting to wait until the end of the season to sign him for free, while Chelsea ready to spend money now.

That’s the word from the Telegraph’s Matt Law, who is in the top tier of Chelsea sources these days.

Just an hour prior to that, Law had tweeted that Chelsea had made a new bid, but with talks “accelerating”, there is now a sense that the deal could be done as soon as today (Friday).

While personally I’m not all that enthused about Barkley as a player, the price, if Law is correct, could be as low as £15m, which is absolute peanuts in today’s market, especially for a young, homegrown player who a few years ago was going to be the next greatest thing. Even if he only turns out to be the next Marko Marin, there are far worse ways to spend £15m.

So, welcome, Ross?