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Ross Barkley provides one of the strangest moments in deadline day history

Published 22:30 31 Aug 2017 BST

Updated 22:41 31 Aug 2017 BST

Darragh Murphy
Ross Barkley provides one of the strangest moments in deadline day history

Homesport

Talk about a change of heart.

It looked for all the world that Ross Barkley was about to be unveiled as a Chelsea player in the final hour of the summer transfer window. The out-of-favour Everton midfielder seemed to be a banker for one of the late movers on Thursday night and, according to Sky Sports, Barkley was in the middle of a medical at Stamford Bridge. A fee of roughly £35 million had been agreed between the clubs and the deal appeared to be reaching the stage of i-dotting and t-crossing. https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/903366649436352522 But, all of a sudden, Barkley had an unprecedented change of heart and decided that he no longer wanted to join the Premier League champions. Mid-medical and after agreeing to move to Antonio Conte's side, the 23-year-old packed up and returned to Merseyside. You don't often hear of a U-turn from a player after a deal has progressed to the point that it's essentially 99% done but something convinced Barkley to get out of there. https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/903371596957605888 Deadline day is never without drama.
Ross Barkley provides one of the strangest moments in deadline day history