Ronald Koeman has told Ross Barkley’s suitors – including Tottenham Hotspur – that Everton will not accept a below-market offer for the England international towards the end of the transfer window.
Everton have yet to receive any bids for their homegrown midfielder despite him entering the final year of his contract and refusing to sign a new deal. However Spurs are expected to move for the 23-year-old, who has also been linked with Chelsea, with reports this week claiming their chairman, Daniel Levy, is prepared to pay £25m.
Koeman believes Barkley will leave Goodison Park this summer but insists Everton will not be hostage to a deliberately late, undervalued offer for the midfielder. Everton paid a club-record equalling £30m to sign Michael Keane from Burnley, when the England defender had 12 months remaining on his contract at Turf Moor, and their manager has indicated that is the going rate for a player in Barkley’s position.
“We won’t let him go cheap, of course not,” said Koeman, who has seen Swansea City hold out for £50m for Gylfi Sigurdsson all summer. “We have the experience of what we need to pay for players who came here and had one year of contract. If there is a club thinking we can wait until the last day and we put some money on the table and we get Ross Barkley, sorry, you do not get Ross Barkley.”
He added: “If there is an offer, maybe the club will not accept. He is a really good player; a young player, an English player. With all the valuations we have seen the last few weeks about players, then if you want to buy Ross it is a big [financial] deal.”
Asked whether he thought Levy’s strategy is to sign Barkley with a cut-price offer late in the window, the Everton manager replied: “I do not know. I am not sure. I have some experience. When I was in Southampton we lost some players [including Victor Wanyama to Spurs] but I am mentioning the name of no club.”
Barkley has resumed training at Everton following minor groin surgery but will not be considered for the Premier League opener against Stoke City on Saturday having had only two sessions. Koeman said: “I still believe he will make the move. If not, he is a player of Everton and if he shows to me he is one of the best then it is possible he can start, like everyone else.”
The Everton manager believes an end is in sight to Sigurdsson’s protracted move from the Liberty Stadium with his Swansea counterpart, Paul Clement, calling on both clubs to compromise over a fee. Everton have had deals worth up to £40m and £45m rejected for the Iceland midfielder this summer but Koeman said: “We are close. Let’s hope we get an agreement as soon as possible. I heard some rumours that the talks broke down but we are still in negotiations with Swansea.
“I have heard the comments of Paul Clement, the manager of Swansea. Of course everyone would like news, that it is better for us and it is better for them.”
That sentiment is shared by Clement, who will not consider Sigurdsson for Swansea’s opener at Southampton on Saturday and needs a resolution to finalise his plans for the new season. The Swansea manager said: “I think the way it’s going there needs to be more than likely a compromise on both sides and that’s very often how a deal is made. Normally when both deals are done it’s a win-win situation for both sides.”