Great deal. £15 million for a England international is good business. Kids got plenty of potential. Natural ability which will only get better with the players/management he's working with. It's up to him now. If Barkley wants to be a baller he's gotta put the effort in. He has all the ingredients. Happy with the signing. 

Ugh

Wasn't keen on the figures mentioned before but for £15 million it's literally buttons and not much of a risk for an English international.

He's 24 and can get better. Be a good signing for those reasons.

13 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Similar career trajectory to Lamps? 5-6 seasons at their boyhood club then move to Chelsea when they're 23/24? Similar goal returns too.

 

Lets hope he has half the career Lamps had with us.

The memories that man created.

on a serious note would be brilliant to have someone even as half as talented and successful as Lamps.

It’s a no-brainer for £15mil. Very happy about this signing, although slightly concerned that it might hamper Ruben’s chances of getting more playing time with us. Barkley has a load of talent and we’re crying out for an attack minded central midfielder that can run with the ball and shoot from outside of the box. He’ll be perfect in a midfield 3 for us. I’m really hoping that he’s going to step up to the challenge - I’ve got a sneaky feeling that he will.

Edited January 5, 20188 yr by DannyVblue

23 minutes ago, DannyVblue said:

It’s a no-brainer for £15mil. Very happy about this signing, although slightly concerned that it might hamper Ruben’s chances of getting more playing time with us. Barkley has a load of talent and we’re crying out for an attack minded central midfielder that can run with the ball and shoot from outside of the box. He’ll be perfect in a midfield 3 for us. I’m really hoping that he’s going to step up to the challenge - I’ve got a sneaky feeling that he will.

This is my concern. Ruben plays his spot. Could they play together? Maybe but not yet. I think this means another loan for Ruben. It also means the end of any interest in a midfielder who would actually improve us.

The individual transfer is low risk at 15m. But the impact on the broader plan for the squad is more troubling. In any case it looks he is ours tomorrow so let's hope I'm wrong and he is a great buy who solves our lack of goals from midfield.

1 minute ago, Spiller86 said:

This is my concern. Ruben plays his spot. Could they play together? Maybe but not yet. I think this means another loan for Ruben. It also means the end of any interest in a midfielder who would actually improve us.

The individual transfer is low risk at 15m. But the impact on the broader plan for the squad is more troubling. In any case it looks he is ours tomorrow so let's hope I'm wrong and he is a great buy who solves our lack of goals from midfield.

Yeah I'm thinking along these lines too, but hoping to be proved wrong.  Though he might only be as equally skilled as other players in the squad.. his hunger might be a bit fresher.

I like RLC, but I think Barkley is the better player with a better skill set. The upside with Barkley is way higher than with RLC. Maybe RLC is destined to play for a club like Palace and just stroll along not pulling up any trees along the way. Barkley if he puts his heart and soul in to it could be a gem. 

13 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

Yeah I'm thinking along these lines too, but hoping to be proved wrong.  Though he might only be as equally skilled as other players in the squad.. his hunger might be a bit fresher.

Jason Burt's take is interesting:

 

1 minute ago, Spiller86 said:

Jason Burt's take is interesting:

 

Dangerous precedent "replacing" players IMO.  We should be developing players into the greatest they can personally be and then take what that yields.  Though there is absolutely something to be said for having a mainstay or two (or three) in your lineup.

For 15million and at 24 and English that’s not a bad deal at all.

wonder when will he be ready to start? Some reports suggest by the 20th of the month 

Midfield line up of Drinkwater and Barkley with Carroll up top would be wonderful. I think once Conte is gone at the end of the season, Allardyce would be someone to get them playing well together. 

6 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

Dangerous precedent "replacing" players IMO.  We should be developing players into the greatest they can personally be and then take what that yields.  Though there is absolutely something to be said for having a mainstay or two (or three) in your lineup.

I agree. We're not Barcelona. We don't have a style that requires certain players. My point quoting the tweet was that obviously we think he will improve our team over a long period and that potentially he could be one of those mainstays.

I'm not sure I agree.

15 minutes ago, OverAndOut said:

Midfield line up of Drinkwater and Barkley with Carroll up top would be wonderful. I think once Conte is gone at the end of the season, Allardyce would be someone to get them playing well together. 

Too obvious 

Not a fan of Barkley. Why you would choose him over Mahrez is beyond me. And yes I know they play different positions. 

Two major injuries already in his career. 

I agree with spiller, on the face of it, it is pretty good business, it also looks as uf the club were shrewd enlugh to delay signing an injured player and in the process, saving £15m.

We are now stocked in midfield though, so unless Barkley raises his game pretty quickly, we still haven't improved. This is looking like being our central midfielder options for the next 18 months, unless fabregas is sold in the summer. 

Kante, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Barkley and RLC.

There's potential for the latter 3 to develop into the sort of player that wins us titles. 

Let's hope it works out for us in the long run. 

59 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

This is my concern. Ruben plays his spot. Could they play together? Maybe but not yet. I think this means another loan for Ruben. It also means the end of any interest in a midfielder who would actually improve us.

The individual transfer is low risk at 15m. But the impact on the broader plan for the squad is more troubling. In any case it looks he is ours tomorrow so let's hope I'm wrong and he is a great buy who solves our lack of goals from midfield.

I doubt we would be going after an expensive cm option anyway after the investment is DD/Baka. Just hope one of the group works out for us!

1 hour ago, Famous CFC said:

It's up to him now. 

And this is the most important thing, he has the chance to make something of himself at the top of the game, or drift into mid level obscurity. He surely must realise this is his one real chance and hopefully will grasp it.

With the imminent signing of Barkley how does Vidal(if rumours are true that we have made a bid for him) fit into all this then; why do we suddenly want all these midfielders?  Is someone out the door? or we grabbed Barkley just because he was 15mill.....just asking.

18 minutes ago, big blue said:

I agree with spiller, on the face of it, it is pretty good business, it also looks as uf the club were shrewd enlugh to delay signing an injured player and in the process, saving £15m.

We are now stocked in midfield though, so unless Barkley raises his game pretty quickly, we still haven't improved. This is looking like being our central midfielder options for the next 18 months, unless fabregas is sold in the summer. 

Kante, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Barkley and RLC.

There's potential for the latter 3 to develop into the sort of player that wins us titles. 

Let's hope it works out for us in the long run. 

The club wasn’t shrewd but had no choice, Barkley turned the club down in the summer so he saved Chelsea 15m. 

If he's coming then I wish him as successful as Lampard was with us.

After both the John Stones and Romelu Lukaku ordeal and how Everton mugged us off.
I'm glad we cost them £20m, even if it's a player I'm not particularly excited about.

7 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

The club wasn’t shrewd but had no choice, Barkley turned the club down in the summer so he saved Chelsea 15m. 

I know that was what was reported, but it wouldn't surprise me if we worked something out with Barkley after finding out the severity of his injury, in order for us to get a better deal. Maybe we offered him more money to delay the transfer. 

A lot of the reports about him leaving half way through a medical, were reported to be false. I don't think anyone really knows what went on, but it has worked out very favourably for ourselves if we end up getting him for half the price. 

15 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

With the imminent signing of Barkley how does Vidal(if rumours are true that we have made a bid for him) fit into all this then; why do we suddenly want all these midfielders?  Is someone out the door? or we grabbed Barkley just because he was 15mill.....just asking.

I highly doubt we will go after Vidal now.  I had my doubts about it anyway given the asking price and his age.

 

33 minutes ago, ozboy said:

Not a fan of Barkley. Why you would choose him over Mahrez is beyond me. And yes I know they play different positions. 

Two major injuries already in his career. 

The first week of the transfer period isn't even over yet.  Plenty of time to land Mahrez. 

I'm just daydreaming here but a Jan transfer period of Barkley, Mahrez and any striker that isn't Carroll would be amazing.

Liverpool sign Van Dyke for £75 million and we get Barkley for £15 million.