The Everton academy product is moving on this summer from the club he has been at for 12 years.
As we approach the start of the Premier League season, the future of Ross Barkley is yet to be decided but one place he is not expected to be is Goodison Park. Ronald Koeman confirmed the 23-year-old is looking for a ‘new challenge’ and will not be signing a contract extension despite having just one year left on his current deal.
The news put many clubs in England on alert and it is one in the North-East that Oddschecker users seem to think the England international is set to move to. Over the past seven days, 33% of bets on Barkley’s next club have been placed on Newcastle, the most of any other club. The Toon Army have come in from 33/1 a week ago to as short as 4/1, yet 17/1 is still available in a place.
One club that has held a firm interest all summer, and the favourites to sign Barkley at 5/4, is Tottenham Hotspur. They have yet to sign a player this window and it seems that the notorious negotiator Daniel Levy is once again playing hardball. 25.6% of bets in the last 7 days have been on Spurs and if you look back further to the start of July, Spurs are the most popular bet and account for 31.9% of punts on the market.
Another London club scrambling for reinforcements is Chelsea and they have also had a fair chunk of bets in the last week with 23.9% of the total. It is well known Conte, and many Chelsea fans, are concerned with the size of their squad and Barkley would prove a versatile signing who can play in midfield and attack. He is 11/2 to be playing at Stamford Bridge come September.
