Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley offiically joined Aston Villa on loan today, and this move is essentially win-win-win. With Chelsea’s huge spending spree this summer, the ex-Everton attacking midfielder is odd man out/lower on the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
Or at least he will be when the team, including some summer signings, are fully match fit. So he’s surplus to requirements right now in southwest London, and that’s even before Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic return from injury to make their debuts this season.
For Villa, it’s another example of all their ambition this summer transfer window.
They barely escaped the drop last term, and they are beefing up to make sure they finish well above the drop zone this time. Ross Barkley is Villa’s fifth new addition this window, joining Bertrand Traore, Ollie Watkins, Matt Cash and former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
“Capturing a player of Ross’s quality is a real coup for our club and I am certain he will thrive here and improve our team,” Villa boss Dean Smith said about Ross Barkley coming over to Aston Villa.
? #WelcomeRoss ?
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 30, 2020
Ross Barkley did not crack the first team for any of Chelsea’s three league contests thus far, and this comes off a campaign in which he only featured 13 times in the Premier League. The 26-year-old Englishman is in the midst of/about to hit his prime, so he definitely shouldn’t waste those years sitting on the bench.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.