Chelsea have made contact over a transfer move for Everton star Ross Barkley, according to reports.
The Premier League champions were on the brink of completing a deal for Barkley ahead of the 2017/18 campaign but the 24-year-old pulled the plug on a move to Stamford Bridge in the final hours of the summer transfer window.
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It’s understood the England international favoured a move to Tottenham as he believed he would get more minutes under Mauricio Pochettino.
However, The Daily Mail claim Chelsea have not given up hope of landing Barkley and have approached the midfielder’s entourage over the possibility of signing.
Antonio Conte is keen to bring in midfield reinforcements to ease the workload on Cesc Fabregas and Barkley is among the Italian’s priority targets.
The Englishman, who is two weeks away from returning to full fitness, is out of contract at Goodison Park next summer.
Pochettino remains interested in Barkley as he prepares to strengthen his English core at Spurs.
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The Argentine said last week: ‘We are focused on trying to bring more English players through the academy
‘If we don’t have this profile we will try to take advantage of the English market and add more English players here.’
Chelsea 2017/18 Fixtures
Huddersfield Town (A) – Tues Dec 12
Southampton (H) – Sat Dec 16
Bournemouth (H) – Wed Dec 20 (EFL Cup)
Everton (A) – Sat Dec 23
Brighton (H) – Tues Dec 26
Stoke City (H) – Sat Dec 30
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