It’s fair to say that Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley has taken time to win over some fans at Stamford Bridge, but his recent performances have begun to turn things around.
The 24-year-old started both of England’s games during the international break, playing a crucial pass for the third goal in the 3-2 win over Spain last night.
Fans on Twitter believe the £15m the club spent on Barkley in January could turn out to be a very good piece of business:
Barkley is looking a different player at the minute, hope he stays in Chelsea side now too #CFC #ENG
— Paul Taylor (@PaulT_92) 15 October 2018
You can see he has the right attitude. Like a certain Mr Lampard who was downgraded in his early years by Hammer's fans as well as a few doubters at first in West London but worked on his game on the training field and learned from the quality players around him….
— Richard Schaller (@richschaller54) 16 October 2018
by the end of the season 15m could end up being the biggest robberies in football
— Luke Willis (@LukeWillis90) 16 October 2018
I’m really impressed with him. Just got his head down, worked hard and quite obviously listened to Sarri. It wouldn’t hurt RLC taking a leaf out of Ross’ book.
— James Pugh (@JDPugh76) 16 October 2018
Ingredients for a top successful career
— DE FELICE (@Mas_Peach) 16 October 2018
Bargain of the year or maybe the decade
— Odhran Delanty (@OzDelanty_94) 15 October 2018
What a buy
— Rossilampant46 (@rossilampant46) 15 October 2018
Looking more and more like a bargain every game he plays.
— Jack Robinson (@Jackorias) 16 October 2018
Other supporters don’t think he has done enough to displace Mateo Kovacic from the starting eleven:
Kovacic is still better
— dat_bahd_guy (@Paullewan11) 16 October 2018
Great to see his progress, interesting battle for a place with Kovacic this season – great for Chelsea!
— Rob Gilles (@robgilles68) 16 October 2018
Barkley has certainly made a good start to the season, but it was only a few weeks ago when some fans were critical of his passing and use of the ball.
There are likely to be some poor games mixed in with the good ones but there is no doubt that the England international has the potential to develop into a very good player under the tutelage of manager Maurizio Sarri.