The 24-year-old has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with last season’s Premier League champions and will wear the number eight shirt.

Barkley, who leaves Everton after 13 years at the club, has not played for seven months because of a hamstring injury and had surgery in August.

“He’s very young and has a lot of space for improvement,” said Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

Upon signing for the Premier League champions, Barkley said: ‘I’m overwhelmed, I’m looking forward to it and I’m really excited to get started.

‘To be given a fresh start at a new club like Chelsea, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m looking forward to continuing where I left off at the end of last season and hoping to improve and add more goals to my game.’

Club director Marina Granovskaia added: ‘Ross is a player we have long admired and are certain he will prove to be an important player for Chelsea. He possesses outstanding technical and physical attributes, matched with good experience of the Premier League and a strong desire to succeed at the highest level. We welcome him to the club and look forward to seeing him in action.’

Barkley arrives with a wealth of experience for a player so young, having already made 150 Premier League appearances for Everton, as well as being named in England squads for both the World Cup and European Championships.

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Source: BBC Sport

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Barkley turned down a move to Chelsea on transfer deadline day in August.

But negotiations between the clubs resumed once the transfer window re-opened on 1 January.

The 24-year-old England man rejected a new deal at Everton and is out of contract at the end of this season, opening the door to a cut-price move.

Barkley has yet to play this season after having hamstring surgery following a training injury but is now approaching match fitness.

Everton manager Sam Allardyce said on Thursday the club had been resigned to losing Barkley for some time.

And now, barring late hitches, he is likely to secure a move to Chelsea.

It will mean the player is leaving Goodison Park after 13 years, having joined Everton as an 11-year-old in 2005.

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Source: BBC

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The article, written by columnist Kelvin MacKenzie, appeared on Friday.

MacKenzie was suspended after comparing the midfielder, whose grandfather was born in Nigeria, to a “gorilla”.

He also wrote that men with similar “pay packets” to Barkley in Liverpool were “drug dealers”.

Everton said in a statement: “The newspaper has to know that any attack on this City, either against a much respected community or individual, is not acceptable,” the club said in a statement.

Merseyside Police are investigating whether MacKenzie’s comments constitute a “racial hate crime”.

The Sun apologised “for the offence caused” and added that it was “unaware of Barkley’s heritage”.

In a statement of his own, MacKenzie reiterated the latter sentiment, adding that it was “beyond parody” to describe the column as “racist”.

In February, Liverpool banned Sun journalists from its grounds over the newspaper’s coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

This Saturday, 15 April, marks the 28th anniversary of the disaster.

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Source: BBC

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