Everton manager Sam Allardyce has confessed that he may be powerless to prevent Ross Barkley from leaving the club at the end of the season.
The England international, yet to kick a ball this campaign due to an injury picked up in pre-season, is due to see his current terms expire next summer.
Chelsea were interested in signing Barkley on August deadline day, while Tottenham Hotspur are also understood to have made an approach, but the 23-year-old ultimately remained at Goodison Park.
Allardyce wants to keep Barkley on Merseyside for the long term, but admits that the player's mind may already be set on a move away.
"I'd like to think we can keep Barkley, unless somebody's already done a deal for him," he told Sky Sports News. "I am not daft enough to know in this game that those words and phone calls might not have already gone on.
"If we could get Ross Barkley to stay then nobody would be more delighted than me. Whether that is a possibility I do not know. For me it's about getting him back in the squad first and seeing where we are from there."
Barkley registered five goals and eight assists in 36 Premier League appearances last season.
Daniel Lewis
