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5 reasons Tottenham should be excited to sign Ross Barkley

By Rucker Haringey

SWANSEA, WALES - MAY 06: Ross Barkley of Everton arrives prior to the Premier League match between Swansea City and Everton at The Liberty Stadium on May 6, 2017 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES - MAY 06: Ross Barkley of Everton arrives prior to the Premier League match between Swansea City and Everton at The Liberty Stadium on May 6, 2017 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images) /
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 15: Ross Barkley of Everton celebrates scoring his team’s second goal to make the score 2-1 during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Goodison Park on April 15, 2017 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 15: Ross Barkley of Everton celebrates scoring his team’s second goal to make the score 2-1 during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Goodison Park on April 15, 2017 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images) /

3. Positional flexibility

Adding Barkley to the club’s midfield rotation could provide cover for a number of positions. It’s not an exaggeration to say he could be deployed in any of Pochettino’s normal five midfield spots.

To illustrate the point, consider the fact that Barkley has started at least three Premier League matches at four different positions this season. Ronald Koeman isn’t a foolish manager, he wouldn’t trust an inflexible player with that sort of diverse responsibility.

I happen to believe that Barkley’s best position might be in the double-pivot. He could very well turn out to be the long-term heir to Moussa Dembele in the midfield.

In fairness, he is certainly more of an accomplished attacking player at this point in his career. It would take some serious time on the training pitch to round out the defensive aspect of his game. Fortunately, Pochettino has enough midfield options to transition Barkley into that role very slowly.

In a sense, Barkley’s arrival could provide Tottenham cover at every position in the midfield. That is a lot of value for just one player.

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