Ross Barkley reportedly suffers a new injury amid Tottenham transfer links

According to the Mail, current Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has injured his hamstring while training with the club today.

Teammates saw him go down in pain clutching his leg during the session at Finch Farm and the England international had to be helped from the field.

He is due to undergo a scan to determine the full extent of his injury.

Barkley, of course, had only just recovered from groin surgery that kept him out during the entirety of the Blues’ preseason activities.

The injuries are unfortunate, because the likelihood of Barkley completing a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur or anywhere else are greatly diminished at this point in the window.

At the very least, however, the timing is curious. Philippe Coutinho was absent from Liverpool’s opening match with a “back injury”, while Virgil van Dijk is down with a “virus” for Southampton. The nebulous nature of the ailments lend credence to various conspiracy theories, and we’re tempted to go down that road here.

Unlike Coutinho and van Dijk, Barkley has not publicly issued a statement expressing his desire to exit the club. Ronald Koeman recently backtracked on his comments that Barkley was “100%” leaving, by saying “if there is no interest then he will stay and be part of the team,” and “he is part of the team and training in a good way.”

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Do Everton secretly want Barkley to stick around through at least January, or perhaps the duration of his contract? The club doesn’t necessarily need the cash from his potential sale, but they do need attackers. Who knows what kind of bridges could be rebuilt in that time.

There have been no concrete bids for Ross Barkley in the transfer market. Ross Barkley keeps getting injured in training. What is really going on?