Ross Barkley, A Suitable Replacement For Yaya Toure?

As we have been doing for some days now, we will be examining the possibility of Ross Barkley being a replacement for Toure at City. During the summer, Everton had placed a €50million price on him. Probably this was to dissuade City from attempting to pry their best talent from the club. And this ploy worked; maybe because of the sanctions on Man City. However, the club has to plan for the eventual departure of Yaya Toure, either to him retiring or him leaving to pursue a fresh challenge. Either way, both Pellegrini and Begiristain must have had it in mind to acquire a player who could replace Toure seamlessly and they saw it fit to enquire about Barkley.

Ross Barkley is a British midfielder who plays for Everton. Already an international for England, with 9 appearances, playing at the world cup held in Brazil in the summer, he could have also played for Nigeria as his paternal grandfather was a Nigerian. He is a product of Everton’s youth academy and went out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds united before he became a first team member under Roberto Martinez. Last Season was his breakthrough and he produced a series of fine performances that caught the eye. One spectacular performance that comes to mind was his performance against Man City, which saw him score an audacious lob. That performance certainly must have endeared him to the heart of Pellegrini and that of Begiristain, who have seen been plotting his addition to the Man City squad.

Barkley’s skills set are impressive, though a central midfielder, his versatility sees him being able to play on the wings, and as an attacking midfielder. He dribbles quite well, has good balance and great vision. He has been compared to and described as a young Lampard, while his manger, Roberto Martinez has described him as “a mix of Paul Gascoigne and Michael Ballack”. There is certainly no doubt about his talent and his potential. Man City might view him as not only an ideal replacement for Toure, but as an upgrade. This is due to his versatility and his young age. And if Man City were to be successful in signing him, they would have secured possibly England’s greatest footballer in their ranks and this will stand them in good stead with hardcore English supporters who have derided the Club for not having enough Englishmen being the at core of the first team.

Sadly, there might be a setback in Man City’s attempt to sign Ross Barkley, and this setback stems from their ill fated romance with Jack Rodwell, who was signed from Everton two seasons back. Rodwell throughout his time at City was on the fringes of the first team and people were quick to point out that Man City stagnated the growth of a player who was destined for greater things. Now at Sunderland, he made only 16 appearances for Man City. And Ross Barkley might want to avoid the same fate befalling him. Also other top clubs are said to be interested in him; the likes of Man Utd and Chelsea, surely, City face a hard task getting their man.