Merson picks Chelsea flop as ‘player of the season’ contender amid huge ‘won’t go down’ claim
Paul Merson thinks Ross Barkley will help Luton Town avoid relegation from the Premier League amid his “player of the season” form.
The 30-year-old joined the Hatters last August after they were promoted to the Premier League for the first time.
His renaissance has been fantastic to see and there has even been talk of Barkley being called up to the England squad for the first time since October 2019.
Barkley’s last appearance for the Three Lions came in a 6-0 European Championships qualifier against Bulgaria, scoring two and assisting another.
He came through the Everton youth academy and looked like he would become the next big thing in the Premier League but a £15million transfer to Chelsea in January 2018 really slowed down his progress as a player.
It did not go to plan for Barkley at Stamford Bridge and it looked like his time as a top-flight player had come to an end after an underwhelming 2022/23 campaign with Nice in France.
However, Luton took a chance on the former Everton youngster, who has repaid the faith put in him by manager Rob Edwards.
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Barkley’s superb performances have helped propel the Hatters out of the relegation zone and former Arsenal midfielder Merson believes they have enough quality and togetherness to stay up.
The pundit adds that Barkley has been so impressive that he is in with a shout of being named Premier League “player of the season”.
“Luton won’t go down,” he told Sky Sports. “They have come up and played like they are – Championship players with an unbelievable attitude.
“They have not come up and thought they are Premier League players now and tried to play like them, rolling it around at the back. They have been amazing.
“Alfie Doughty is a very good player. The goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski makes good saves. Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo up front are a proper handful. They run the channels and close people down. Albert Sambi Lokonga has done well since he came in.
“Ross Barkley is not far off player of the season. He’s turned it around.
“When he went to Chelsea from Everton, I thought it was a good signing. But he didn’t play in the same way, he played too safe and that wasn’t him. He was bought because he can pass and dribble.
“He’s gone back to expressing himself. He’s been outstanding.”
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