Tottenham will target Ross Barkley again in January

In what should probably be considered a huge surprise considering all the words typed about it, Tottenham Hotspur did NOT end up purchasing Everton’s Ross Barkley on deadline day. That’s funny enough. What actually happened — Everton completing a medical with Chelsea and then backing out of the deal before signing, possibly to spite both clubs — is even more hilarious.

But if you thought all that last-day drama would finally put an end to this long-running transfer saga, you’d be wrong. According to the Evening Standard, while Spurs ultimately were scared off of making a significant bid for Barkley due to his serious hamstring injury, that’s not going to stop them from coming back in for him in January, arguably when he’ll be available for even less money.

In some ways, this was the inevitable ending for Spurs’ long pursuit of Barkley, and they probably have Chelsea to thank for it. No doubt Spurs would’ve tried to low-ball Everton with a last minute bid, but the Blues put in a £25m offer for Barkley, and Spurs decided to wait. The fact that Barkley ended up staying at Everton in the short term while he recuperates from injury only means that everyone involved is just kicking the can down the road.

Unfortunately, it looks like Spurs would be competing again with Chelsea, who despite signing Danny Drinkwater from Leicester on the last day of the window still somehow see Barkley as good English value for the money. That likely means that if he is sold in January, Barkley won’t go for as cheap as he might otherwise, but it still should be for less than the £30m that Everton wanted for him yesterday. Barkley’s contract expires at the end of the season.

That also means that all of us have another five months in which we can continue to talk about Ross Barkley and whether or not he’d be a good signing for Spurs. Goody.