SPURS CAN RESCUE BARKLEY’S CAREER

AFTER Sunday night, if Ross Barkley concluded that he had to leave Merseyside, few would be very surprised. Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, he would not be the first local lad made good to have to tread carefully in his city, and won’t be the last. It is a great shame, but if the unprovoked bar room attack sours his relationship with Liverpool, that is not his fault. It is not Everton’s either although, increasingly, the word is that Barkley is headed south. Tottenham want him, considered making a move in the January transfer window, and will almost certainly follow it up this summer. They like the look of Barkley in an advanced quartet with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane and, let’s face it, who wouldn’t? If Everton were determined to keep him — and that is not certain — any hope of making an emotional plea may have ended with that sucker punch. Who could blame Barkley (right) for no longer feeling safe at home? London is certainly not without its random thugs, but it is big, and sprawling, and easier for a famous face to simply disappear. Jack Wilshere always seemed to find trouble, but Jurgen Klinsmann travelled around on public transport, as did Roy Hodgson when he was England manager and Slaven Bilic today. No doubt Barkley’s ambitions extend to more than a trip on the Northern Line, but Tottenham could be the making of him. From being tipped as vital to England’s future, Barkley has lost his place in the national team. Graeme Souness claimed at the weekend that he lacked a football brain. Might Mauricio Pochettino change Barkley’s trajectory, as he did Kane’s? Having been in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday, the timing of a Tottenham move this summer could hardly be better.