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.
BREAKING: @Everton and @ChelseaFC agreed a fee for Ross Barkley, only for the player to change his mind during the medical -Sky sources.#SSN pic.twitter.com/TZcbaQgdm4
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 31, 2017
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.
WATCH: Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri explains the Ross Barkley situation. https://t.co/ic3Ol9FrNC https://t.co/ujqQBH87Aa
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 31, 2017
Deadline day is never without drama.
