Fleetwood Town have revealed that Joey Barton will not be signing for them as Queens Park Rangers want him back at the club.
Barton has spent pre-season with the League Two side after receiving a 12-match ban for his his violent conduct at Manchester City on the final day of last season.
The midfielder was linked with a move to Fleetwood as their packed fixture list would have seen the timescale of Barton's ban reduced, meaning he would have returned by September rather than November. However, Fleetwood boss Micky Mellon has said that QPR did not want to do the deal.
"Joey has gone back to QPR," Mellon told Sky Sports News. "His influence in and around the football club was nothing more than fantastic.
"Nothing but positives came from the time we had with Joey. We always knew it was going to come to an end at some stage.
"We did try and get him on loan. QPR did not want to do that. He has gone back to QPR and we wish Joey all the best. He will always be a friend of this football club."
Barton has since been linked with a loan move to Championship side Blackpool.
Sam Hughes
