Chelsea and Manchester United wait in wings as Tottenham wait for Ross Barkley price drop
Tottenham Hotspur run the risk of seeing their interest in signing Ross Barkley hijacked as chairman Daniel Levy waits for Everton to drop their price.
Barkley is one of Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino’s top targets this summer and Spurs remain at the front of the queue for the midfielder.
But Chelsea and Manchester United are also monitoring the situation and Tottenham run the risk of seeing Barkley join one of their rivals the longer they wait.
Everton have put a £50million price tag on the head of Barkley, which is unlikely to be met by any of the player’s suitors as he enters the final year of his Goodison Park contract.
But Chelsea and United could comfortably pay Barkley over £100,000-a-week if his price tag comes down later in the window, which presents a dilemma for Levy.
The longer the stand-off goes on, the more chance Barkley’s price will drop but the likelihood of Chelsea or United becoming more interested increases.
Everton would welcome a late bidding war breaking out over Barkley as it would strengthen their own negotiating position, but Levy would struggle to match the personal terms on offer elsewhere.
Tottenham’s main advantage remains the fact that young English players have flourished under Pochettino at White Hart Lane in recent years.
Barkley knows several members of the Tottenham squad well from England duty and has been impressed by what he has heard about Pochettino.
Chelsea have tracked 23-year-old Barkley’s progress for a number of years and believe he still has the potential to become one of the best attacking midfielders in the country.
United’s squad still lacks some creativity from the centre of midfield and it has not gone unnoticed by manager Jose Mourinho that Barkley linked particularly well with new signing Romelu Lukaku at Everton.
Barkley is currently recovering from groin surgery that will keep him out for around four weeks.
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