You could argue that Ross Barkley has had a career that hasn’t lived up to its expectations.
The ball-carrying midfielder has been around the block in English football, as well as recently taking a dip into the French market during his short spell at Ligue 1 side Nice last season.
From coming through Everton’s academy as a wonderkid to signing for Chelsea for a transfer fee of £15 million in 2018, Ross Barkley now finds himself trying to help underdogs Luton Town avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Another Premier League veteran in Andros Townsend is playing alongside the 30-year-old at Luton and he has compared his teammate’s recent performance against Manchester City to Diego Maradona.
The former Tottenham winger told talkSPORT that Ross Barkley is putting in ‘some of the best midfield performances I have seen in my career’.
This shouldn’t be a surprise because he always had that rare and natural quality to his game, just that consistency and footballing intelligence were lacking.
Perhaps now that the boyhood Everton fan is entering his 30s and towards the latter end of his career, it’s the kick up the backside he needs because he knows he can’t make anymore mistakes.
Ross Barkley and Diego Maradona
“Oh, mate. Honestly, they’ve been some of the best midfield performances I’ve seen in my career,” said Townsend.
“It’s just unbelievable – the calmness, the ability to get the ball off the back four and knock it past some of the world’s best midfielders without a care in the world.
“We saw against Man City, Maradona was in the midfield to set up our goal – honestly, it’s been a joy to watch.
“In a way he’s given confidence to the rest of the players around him, including myself. Just that calmness to take the ball under pressure, it’s such an underrated skill.
“He’s been absolutely incredible and he’s been an absolute joy to play with, but a joy to watch as well.”
Ross Barkley in the Premier League
A lot of promise was shown by Barkley when he was at Everton, including making his debut as a teenager and scoring some wonderful individual goals.
That’s why Chelsea snapped him up, although, how he left didn’t exactly sit well with the Goodison Park faithful.
Barkley showcased his goalscoring promise from midfield at Stamford Bridge, but just couldn’t piece it together, that’s why he was out of the door in 2022.
In between, he did play alongside Jack Grealish at Aston Villa, including making his debut during that 7-2 win over Liverpool.
But once again, the man capped 33 times for his country just couldn’t put together consistent performances and Villa moved on from the player.
The post 'Unbelievable': Andros Townsend says player Chelsea let go like Diego Maradona in PL now appeared first on HITC.
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