Pochettino says he was ‘disappointed’ when PL midfielder joined Chelsea instead of Tottenham in 2018

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has just admitted that he wanted to sign Ross Barkley when he was at the helm at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Argentine returned to the Premier League this summer, three-and-a-half years after Daniel Levy sacked him at Spurs. That annoyed many in North London, but it has to be said that he did a lot of good at Tottenham during his time there.

Now, he has revealed his new club once beat him to a signing.

Mauricio Pochettino says he wanted to sign Ross Barkley for Tottenham
Ross Barkley was a star in his Everton days and just as he was about to leave Goodison Park, he became a wanted man – numerous clubs were keen to sign him.

Tottenham were one of them and even looked the favourites to land him at one point back in the summer of 2017. He had even rejected Chelsea because he only wanted to join Spurs. (Daily Mail)

However, just over four months later, Barkley ended up joining Chelsea from Everton in a £15 million deal (BBC), thus ending what was a prolonged transfer saga.

In his press conference today, Mauricio Pochettino was asked about missing out on Barkley all those years ago. The Chelsea boss admitted that he was ‘disappointed’ that Spurs couldn’t get him.

He said, as quoted by Football London: “You remember things from the past. Sometimes you can get players, sometimes they can decide to move to another side.

“I was disappointed but we have to understand it is business. He’s a great player, a very talented player, we don’t know if he’s going to play or not but we know the quality he can add.”

Barkley’s career has been a difficult one since that move to Chelsea in January 2018.

The Englishman played 100 times for the Blues, but only managed 12 goals and 11 assists. He then spent a loan spell at Aston Villa in the 2020/21 campaign, but just a year after that, he left Chelsea by terminating his contract.

Barkley spent last season in France at OGC Nice, where he scored four goals in 28 appearances. He’s now back in the Premier League at Luton Town, and all eyes will be on him when he faces his old club Chelsea this weekend.

It will be interesting to see how Barkley fares at Luton this season.