Official: Barkley departs Chelsea

Ross Barkley has left Chelsea by mutual consent and becomes a free agent.

The midfielder, who joined from boyhood club Everton in January 2018, made 100 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, scoring 12 goals. The most memorable was his injury-time equaliser against Manchester United in his first full season at the Bridge.

At the end of that campaign he helped win the Europa League, scoring a spot-kick in the shoot-out victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the semis and then coming off the bench in the brilliant Baku triumph against Arsenal.

Barkley’s final game was against Watford in May, and it was his late header that secured all three points in the last game of the season.