Aston Villa's Scouse midfielder Ross Barkley has opened up on his Everton transfer exit in 2018, saying that it made him cry
Ross Barkley celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the match between Aston Villa and Bournemouth at Villa Park on November 9, 2025
Ross Barkley celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the match between Aston Villa and Bournemouth at Villa Park on November 9, 2025
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Ross Barkley has revealed that his transfer from boyhood club Everton to Chelsea in January 2018 left him in tears, while lifting the lid on David Moyes’ kind-hearted gesture of support.
A precocious talent who many feel is second only to Wayne Rooney when it comes to Everton’s most-gifted home-grown players – who Frank Lampard said Barkley reminded him of – the midfielder’s pace and power plus excellent technique ensured he was a mix of Paul Gascoigne and Michael Ballack in the eyes of former Blues boss Roberto Martinez.
Everton agreed to sell Barkley to Chelsea for £30million at the end of the 2017 summer transfer window after he refused to sign a new contract and had entered the final 12 months of his deal. However, the Wavertree-born player rejected the move because he was carrying an injury at the time, only to end up going to Stamford Bridge anyway for half the price the following January. Recalling the transfer, Barkley told the Athletic: “I was crying. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to stay at Everton for life, or if I needed to get away from my comfort zone.
“I cried about leaving because of my love for the club. It changed my life.
“The support from everyone coming through, from the fans, to the staff who were father figures, to the kit men who I’d be in their room every day having banter, but then knowing that Everton weren’t going to have me in my prime, was difficult. “But I had to make a decision because when I left, Everton were dipping. It was a little bit toxic at that point.
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“There were lots of signings coming in and not doing so well. There was just so much change in a short space of time. “Being away from my mum, sister and friends helped me grow. Maybe I wouldn’t have grown the way I did if I had stayed at Everton.
“Coming away from Liverpool to walking around London, the odd taxi man would put his thumb out the window, but because everyone’s rushing about, I could just walk about and be in my own space.”
Barkley, who is now with Aston Villa – where he previously had a loan spell from Chelsea – netting his first goal of the season in Sunday's 4-0 win over Bournemouth after also turning out for Nice and Luton Town, reveals that he suffered abuse from Evertonians after quitting his boyhood team. He said: “I remember being back home and in my car at the traffic lights. Fans would be shouting at me.
“There was one time when a man had his kids in the back and his missus next to him. He was driving, but put his window down to shout things at me.”
The support Barkley spoke of at Everton came from the likes of Duncan Ferguson and Alan Stubbs who – having been brought up in a single parent household – he describes as being like father figures. He said: “It was difficult. I’d have to get two buses, sometimes three, to training.
“I’d have to wait outside the training ground. It could be 9pm, just waiting for a bus on my own to get back home because my mum had to mind my little sister, who is seven years younger. “This was character-building for me. Once I got to a certain age, Everton would help financially with taxis and my coaches would drop me home after training.
“One of my team-mates, John Lundstram, who’s now at Hull City, had his parents drop me back and forth. Duncan Ferguson also did it a few times and he’d even come in — it’d be 10pm and he’d be having a cup of tea with my mum.”
Barkley, who turns 32 next month, added: “Dunc would come back late at night, so there wouldn’t be that many kids. He grew up on a council estate in Scotland, so he saw some similarities with me.
“When I broke my leg, David Moyes came round. He wanted to reassure me that the club were going to do everything they could to get me back where I was and progress into the first team. “It was around 2pm and he turned up in a nice car. It was half-term and there were 20 or 30 kids outside our two-bedroom house.
“They would all be looking through the windows, trying to see Moyes. I appreciated that he took the time to be with me and my mum.
“He actually paid for me to go on holiday – I’d never been on holiday before that. Me, my mum and sister went to Tenerife to have a mental break.”