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Aston Villa are mulling over a making a bid to sign Chelsea’s Ross Barkley on loan.
Barkley may be struggling for first-team minutes at Stamford Bridge this season after all the new arrivals at the club, whilst Villa are looking for somebody who can play in the “number eight” role.
Barkley has appeared as a substitute in both Chelsea’s league matches this season, although he did start and score in their EFL Cup win against Barnsley on Wednesday night.
His teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also under consideration but Villa cannot have both. Premier League rules prohibit a side from having two players on loan from another side at the same time.
Both players will be mindful of the fact that, if they want to force their way into Gareth Southgate’s England plans for the European Championships at the end of the season, they need to be playing regular football. A loan may be the best option for both of them.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.