Tottenham Target Ross Barkley Suffers Injury Setback

According to the Liverpool Echo, Tottenham target and current Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has suffered another injury setback. Barkley, who already underwent surgery last month to deal with a hernia, has now injured his hamstring.

The club is not saying more than that now, perhaps because of how it could influence their ability to sell, but depending on the severity of the injury it could keep him out for some time.

The upside to this for Spurs, I suppose, is that it could make Everton more desperate to sell—so that they don’t lose him for free in 12 months—and could further reduce the absurd £50m asking price the club set earlier this summer.

Of course, there’s another side to this as well: During the 2014-15 season, Barkley missed two months of action due to a ligament injury. He stayed relatively healthy the past two seasons, but now has had an injury plagued summer.

Tottenham already have one physical dribbling midfielder with significant fitness issues in Mousa Dembele. If Barkley is allegedly being targeted as a Dembele backup or replacement, do we really want someone who may have similar fitness issues as well as the other significant concerns we already have with Barkley?