Ross Barkley refused a deadline day move to Chelsea in order to return back to the Everton. After this failed transfer both Chelsea, as well as Ross Barkley, became the butt of numerous jokes. Initially, it was being claimed that Barkley thought of cancelling the move mid-medical – but later Barkley came out to say that such was not the case. He insisted that the deal had not gotten that far and that he changed his mind because he wanted to access his options once he was fully fit.
Then a new report came to light which claimed that Barkley did want to move to Chelsea and just like every new signing would want to do – he wanted to have a chat with his new boss. But upon giving a call to the manager his phone was switched off. This gave Barkley cold feet and he decided to call off the transfer and head back to Goodison Park.
Now when Antonio Conte was asked but the above-mentioned incident he refuted it and said that the whole issue was ridiculous.
While speaking to the press before Chelsea’s weekend clash against Leicester City, Antonio Conte said, “But what I read about this issue was ridiculous. Ridiculous. I stop. It’s ridiculous. With this adjective, I tell you my thoughts of this news.”
Now here comes the interesting part.
While Conte has just outrightly ridiculed the whole issue but we feel there might just be a case here. You see, just a few days back there were a few reports which suggested that the Chelsea board did not want Conte to have a chat with Barkley – after the Italian was unable to convince Chamberlain into signing for the Blues.
The Stamford Bridge management wanted Conte to keep his hands off this deal.
Was this the reason why Conte’s phone was allegedly off at such a crucial time on the deadline day?
