Everton manager Ronald Koeman has told Ross Barkley that the club is the best place to carry out his ambitions of playing in the Champions League but warned the midfielder needs to make a decision on his future by the end of the season.
Barkley will only have 12 months remaining on his existing deal at the end of the season and Koeman has already admitted the club will be forced to sell this summer if the No.8 fails to agree a new deal.
Everton are at risk of losing both Romelu Lukaku and Barkley this summer with both of their futures completely up in the air but the Toffees cannot be seen to baulk to player demands and Koeman has taken a hard line with both, issuing Barkley with an ultimatum.
“I’m not involved in the negotiations for his contract but I know the board is talking to his agent,” The Guardian quote Koeman as saying. “It’s not about one week but we need to know the answer before the end of the season. We will offer him the contract that is good, what is normal for what the player is and for his improvement this season.
“Everton is the best place for him to continue. I spoke to him a few weeks ago and he said his ambition is the Champions League. I told him I have the same ambition. He’s going in the right direction at Everton. He’s a kid of the club, a kid of the club, a kid of the town and in my opinion there’s no better place for him.”
“The Champions League is a normal ambition for players. Everyone would like to play Champions League, including the managers and the fans. For us the next step is Europe and maybe if we finish fifth or sixth it’s perfect because then we don’t play any qualifying games [for the Europa League]. Everyone can see the difference here between this season and last season with the new signings, talk of a new stadium and the direction the club is going in.”
Barkley endured a difficult start to the season and appeared to have a frosty relationship with Koeman, which alerted the likes of Tottenham for his services this summer.
However, he has really grown into the season and has particularly excelled since the turn of the year and it would be a real hammer blow for the Toffees to lose one of their best players at this stage of their development.
In fact, no player has registered more assists in 2017 in the Premier League than Barkley this season (6).
For more stats on Ross Barkley, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
