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Ross Barkley rejected the chance to join West Bromwich Albion on loan for the season ahead.
And now the 27-year old England international must reconcile himself to a place in Chelsea’s reserve side, at least until January when the transfer window opens again.
He spent last season on loan at Aston Villa, but failed to impress enough for them to make the move permanently.
However, their West Midlands neighbours, West Brom, who are bidding to make an instant return to the Premier League, made enquiries about his availability, only for any prospective deal to be scuppered by his wage demands.
He wanted £110,000 a week, a figure that was way beyond West Brom’s budget, and he remains in London.
With very little chance of forcing his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans in the months ahead, unless he gets an outing in the EFL Cup, Barkley may want to consider lowering his expectations if he wants to get back to play regular football again.
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.