It ended up being a very busy deadline day for the Chelsea fans in the Transfer Tavern, who still aren’t quite sure what to make of it.
Indeed, with the Blues in the bar relatively happy about the signings of Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta, they still can’t quite believe Ross Barkley managed to evade them.
Amid a whole host of reports suggesting the England international walked out on the Premier League during a medical, a story from the Times has seriously annoyed our west London locals.
They claim those behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge kept Antonio Conte OUT of talks between the 23-year-old and Chelsea, after the Italian failed to land Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The latter joined Liverpool of course and the lack of direct contact between Conte and Barkley is believed to be one of the reasons the Everton star snubbed a move while traveling down from Liverpool to London.
Both Michael Emenalo and Marina Granovskaia are understood to have taken a leading role in the Blues’ negotiations and our drinkers are fuming about their failure to land Barkley.
Many of them think Conte would have been the perfect manager to get the best out of the England star, a good thing for both club and country.
Landlord’s Verdict:
Why would a player want to sign for a club without knowing exactly what the manager had planned for him? Ridiculous thinking from Chelsea, who may have shot themselves in the foot once again.
Thoughts?
