Chelsea FC transfer target: Ross Barkley
Barkley had a lukewarm first half to the season under manager Ronald Koeman last season and seemed to drift in and out of the first team. However he managed to cement his place in the team and produced decent returns- although nothing spectacular.
Barkley scored 5 goals and made 8 assists from 34 appearances last season. The season before- in 2015/16 he scored 8 goals and made 8 assists.
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So he will give Chelsea a small amount of goals and a decent return on assists. Barkley’s main attribute, though, which will benefit the Blue, is his aggression. The Englishman is not shy of making tackles after frequently sliding in to 50/50 challenges last season.
This is proved by his 5 yellow cards that he gained last season which shows that he often treads a fine line with referees. You may recall a certain nasty challenge he made on Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson in a derby match last season.
Barkley is also not shy of taking shots at goal after registering an average of 2.4 shots per game (All stats are from Whoscored).
He also knows how to pick a pass with an average of 2.3 key passes per game ( key passes are the last pass before a shot from a teammate).