INJURY COULD KO ROSS BID

ROSS BARKLEY’S hopes of leaving Everton could be scuppered by hamstring trouble.

The midfielder is out of favour with boss Ronald Koeman because of his refusal to sign a new deal, but has been sidelined and is having tests to determine the extent of the injury.

Koeman says he is in the dark as to how long Barkley (left) will take to recover. “He stopped training, I think it was last Monday,” said the Dutchman. “It looks like he has a hamstring injury.

“We need to do more tests to know exactly what the injury is. We have to wait.”

Koeman revealed he was gutted when veteran midfielder Gareth Barry told him he wanted to quit Goodison Park for West Brom. Barry, 36, has left in a £1million deal to improve his chances of first-team football and Koeman did not stand in his way. “It was a really difficult decision,” he said. “Gareth came in and asked to leave because he knew he would not play every week and he’s still that type of player who loves to play.

“I wasn’t happy. I really wanted to keep him in the squad as we expect to have a lot of games this season and will need more than three, four or five midfield players.

“But our relationship was on that level that I gave him the chance to go.”