It was one of the stranger moments in deadline day history.
Ross Barkley had decided to join Chelsea, a fee had been agreed between the clubs and the Everton midfielder was in the middle of a medical ahead of a move to Stamford Bridge.
Then he had the ultimate change of heart.
As the 11pm deadline drew nearer last Thursday, Barkley suddenly pulled a U-turn and decided that he didn’t want the deal to go ahead.
Merse has a theory https://t.co/havXVCOnKY
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) September 2, 2017
And Joey Barton has sensationally revealed what went wrong to prompt the dramatic 180° from the England international.
Barton remarkably claims that Barkley was trying to contact Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to find out what position he would be playing in for the Blues but that the Italian had decided to switch his phone off.
“I heard a really interesting thing about what happened with the Ross Barkley transfer. Conte turned his phone off and Barkley’s representatives were trying to contact him,” Barton said on Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.
“He wanted to say ‘look, where am I going to play’, and Conte turned his phone off. That is why Barkley got cold feet and never signed.
“He thought, ‘well, if the manager isn’t answering the phone to me he clearly doesn’t want me’, and that is why he went back to Everton.”
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