Spurs to land Barkley

he didn’t accept the new contract offered by the final match it would be assumed that he didn’t want to stay.

Barkley didn’t start that game – ironically at the Emirates – and the contract remained unsigned.

Koeman moved quickly in the transfer market and has already replaced him with £23.6m Ajax skipper Davy Klaassen.

With Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson also on Koeman’s wanted list, there is no future for Barkley at the club he’s supported since he was a boy.

If they’d chosen to sell a year ago there would have been a long queue for the 23-year-old and Everton would have easily realised their £50m asking price.

But Barkley’s form has dipped. He did not respond to the high work-rate Koeman demands from his midfielders and teenager Tom Davies has overtaken him in the Everton pecking order.

A move to Arsenal would also have a positive knock-on effect for Barkley’s international prospects.

It’s more than a year since he last played for England, though manager Gareth Southgate rates him highly and has twice included him in his squads.

Despite his ever-more sporadic club appearances, Southgate confirmed he would have named Barkley again for the recent World Cup qualifier against Scotland if not for a minor injury.

However, Southgate won’t be able to consider him for the final qualifiers in September and October unless he becomes a more regular Premier League starter.