On 5th January 2018, Ross Barkley left Everton to join Chelsea for £15 million. Everton fans were angry as the deal could have been done on deadline day the previous summer, meaning Everton could have had at least double the fee that time as his contract was going to expire in the summer and Barkley refused to sign a new one, so Everton had to sell him for a cut price. On the eleventh hour, Farhad Moshiri said Barkley’s agent Paul Martin told him he changed his mind and would consider his options in January. A few days after the transfer, it has been revealed that Paul Martin raked in £7 million from the deal.
The Barkley rigmarole has raised a few questions. Why did he change his mind? Why did he sign for Chelsea, seemingly making his mind up once the transfer window re-opened? Did Paul Martin have something to do with it? He does have history…