Ross Barkley

Ross Barkley
Personal information
Full name	Ross Barkley
Date of birth	5 December 1993 (1993-12-05) (age 26)
Place of birth	Wavertree, Liverpool, England
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	8
Youth clubs
2005-2010	Everton
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
2010–2018 2012 2013 2018–	Everton → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) → Leeds United (loan) Chelsea	150 0(21) 013 00(4) 004 00(0) 029 00(3)
National team
2008–2009 2009–2010 2010–2012 2013 2011–2013 2013–	England U16 England U17 England U19 England U20 England U21 England	007 00(2) 007 00(2) 012 00(0) 003 00(0) 005 00(1) 029 00(4)

Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He has also played for Everton, and had been loaned to Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United.

Club career

Ross Barkley joined Everton as an 11-year old and played for the club's youth teams. He was named as a substitute in a first team league game in early 2010–11, and was expected to make his Premier League debut before his leg was broken in three places after a collision with Liverpool's Andre Wisdom during an England under-19 match in October 2010.

He recovered from his injury in time to join the first team for pre-season training before the beginning of 2011–12. During pre-season, Tim Cahill heralded Barkley as the most talented footballer he had worked with. He made his debut in Everton's first game of the season, a 1–0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers, and was named man of the match by Radio City Sport. His early performances were highly praised, with Martin Keown predicting that "[Barkley will] be one of the best players we'll ever see in this country." He signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract in December 2011.

On 14 September 2012, Barkley joined Sheffield Wednesday on a one-month loan deal making his debut the same day in an away defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. He scored his first goal for the club, a penalty, against Bolton Wanderers the following week. His loan was extended before he was recalled by Everton after playing thirteen games for Wednesday. He again went out on loan, this time to Leeds United for an "initial one-month stint", in January 2013 and made his debut for Leeds in a derby match against Barnsley.

Barkley rejoined the Everton first team for the 2013–14 season, and scored his first goal for the club on the opening day in a 2–2 draw against Norwich City, and was later named man of the match. During the first half of the season, Barkley put in several man-of-the-match performances, notably against Arsenal and Swansea City – the latter whom he scored the winner against. He received praise from many pundits including Alan Hansen who said Barkley has absolutely everything and Gary Lineker who claimed he is a star in the making and a prodigious talent. Club manager Roberto Martínez described Barkley as a mix of Paul Gascoigne and Michael Ballack.

Barkley did not feature for Everton in his final season with the club, having been sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury.

Barkley presented to Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge following his move from Everton. On 5 January 2018, Barkley joined Premier League club Chelsea for a fee of £15 million, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract with the defending champions.

International career

Barkley has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20, under-21 and senior level. He was first called up for the under-16 level in September 2008, aged 14.

He was selected to play in the 2009 Montaigu Tournament and captained the team to success, beating Germany 2–1 on penalties in the final. He also helped England win the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship with two goals en route to the final where England beat Spain 2–1. Barkley was called up to the England U-21 squad in August 2011.

On 28 May 2013, he was named in manager Peter Taylor's 21-man squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his debut on 16 June, in a 3–0 win in a warm-up game against Uruguay.

He scored his first goal for England under-21's on 13 August 2013, in a 6–0 win against Scotland.

Barkley was called up to the senior England squad in August 2013, and earned his first senior cap the following month, coming on as a substitute for Jack Wilshere in a 4–0 win in a World Cup qualifier against Moldova at Wembley.

Personal life

Barkley grew up in the Wavertree area of Liverpool.

External links

• Ross Barkley profile at Everton F.C.
• Ross Barkley career stats at Soccerbase
• Ross Barkley profile at EvertonFC.com

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