Daily Star invents Barkley bid

The Daily Star are now reporting Liverpool are preparing a £38m bid for Barkley...

The latest funny to come out of a rag is the Daily Star's blockbuster of, "Barkley to Liverpool for £38m". To paraphrase the late, great Frank Carson "It's the way they write 'em". Do these people really get paid to write this rubbish?

I looked at the Star link and would love to be a journo: no research, no facts, just think of a story and send to print and get paid for it!!!

Three things wrong with the story:

1) We are not selling Barkley;

2) We are not letting him go for just £38m. Even Billie is not that daft;

3) We are definitely not selling him to the RS.

My Turn-erm .... Everton are on the brink of signing Elvis as a replacement for Mirallas who fancies a career in music... kerching, thanks boss, great story. I know, amazing... who'd have thought it??

I read that this morning, it is laughable. Liverpool could, and Everton might. Where do they get the figures from? £38m, that like mmm what did they pay for Andy C? Oh add a bit.

What I don't get is why it is only football which suffers from this lazy journo stuff. You never read it in the other parts of the paper: Headlines like "Queen dies in car accident" The queen is set to travel to Scotland by car today and if the car crashes, and is travelling to fast, then the Queen might well die. Prince Phillip is said to be 'devastated' at the thought his wife, 92, might die while travelling alongside him.

There should be a rule introduced to newspapers for every article they print which is made up, and does not come true, they should have to donate £1000 to charity and serve a 3-day typewriter ban.

Let’s hope the nonsense in today’s press about Liverpool’s £40 million bid for Ross does not prove distracting (and if there is something to it then the club needs to boot this into touch immediately).

Peter, call me a conspiracy theorist but I believe these are exactly the sort of soft tactics the media will employ to distract Everton. On the pitch it will be underhand, overly harsh refereeing. I won’t believe we have got fourth until the last ball is kicked given the tacit hate campaign being directed at us.

Truly this rumour is the icing on the cake for how crap journalism has got in this country. I can't believe they didn't have half a brain cell between them to realise let's not print this because were going to look like a complete bunch of tits!!

ps: Beat Palace and Utd top 4 is ours. COYB

To Liverpool? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I don't understand. If Liverpool are preparing a bid, why would Martinez know anything about it? It doesn't say anything about our club.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha, what a joke of a paper.

I haven’t stopstopped laughing... hahahahaha!

James #232. "2) We are not letting him go for just £38m. Even Billie is not that daft;"

Correct. I wish people would get off his back. After all, 10 years ago he promised us he wouldn't sell Rooney for £50m.

And he kept his word.

Matt - If Barkley is allowed to move across the park then Billy may as well emigrate because he won't be made welcome at Goodison Park. But this is the usual media playing mind games on behalf of their favourites and attempting to unsettle the squad at a crucial time of the season. Never underestimate the power of the press as they like the comfortable surroundings of the Emirates, Old Trafford et al....They don't fancy sitting at Goodison on a cold Wednesday night when they could be at any of them other grounds while sipping champagne and eating prawn sandwiches rather than scalding themselves with hot bovril and choking on an over-size hot-dog.

April fool's has clearly come late for the star

I've read some daft articles in my time. But this was the most stupid one I've ever read. Total and utter crap.

Talkshite also seem to be following up on this story , by suggesting that if a big bid of £50m comes in Everton should accept it ,and would Everton be able to refuse it .

I wonder who they would like us to sell him to even though Martinez has said "He is not for sale".

John Stones has also been linked with a move to Arsenal and Chelsea. Sounds to me like media upset of Everton finishing 4th is in full flow of trying to unsettle players. I must say though it’s brilliant timing.

I work with a Liverpool fan and today he claimed that Ross Barkley was actually a Liverpool supporter. Apparently he grew up supporting Liverpool similar to how Steve Gerard grew up supporting Everton.

Is Ross actually a Liverpool supporter? Has anyone else heard that?

Obviously nonsense this rumour. But just for the sake of interest, for which fee would we accept Barkley to leave us for Liverpool? Or is it unacceptable no matter how much they offer? For me, a fee to clear our debts AND give us enough money to redevelop Goodison from top to bottom into a world class 60k stadium might do it. If they throw in Sterling as well.

Erik - If you could guarantee that he would do a Rodwell or Lescott it might be worth say £150m but if he turns out to be the star player that many of us believe he will become then Ten Billion wouldn't satisfy me as it would be a nightmare for Everton FC to have produced a ready made replacement for their current captain. I want him at Goodison for the next ten years and if he leaves I hope he moves abroad.

It is unacceptable whatever they offer. They would be interested but BK will not sell to the RS. Unless, of course Ross forced his hand; which is exactly the case with Rooney and his agent all those years ago. So Matt... yes BK sold Rooney but as you very well know that was after Rooneys transfer request. Do you remember the circulating BS propaganda leaflet prior to the game stating the move was all down to BK and Rooneys agent? Laughable. We all know the he won't move on unless he asks to. RM is building a team and next year with a few improvements we will be even better... and so will Ross.

The way that lot play, Tom Daly would be more apt.

It would be the end for Everton. They just can't stand the fact that we are where we are. God let's get 4th then win the thing next year, shut the fuckers up.

Dick - what are you on about Steve G an Everton fan??? He has always supported Liverpool. His brother supported/supports Everton. Ross like Wayne grew up supporting the blues.

David (#370), yes, of course I know that. We knew Rooney was off as soon as Kenny Dalglish talked his parents into switching agents to Stretford / Proactive as was.

Rumour had it that Trevor Birch in his 6-week stint as CEO stated we needed to sell Rooney to avoid administration, and was quickly off.

But Gordon Clegg still needn't have opened his trap at all and come out with that ridiculous "I wouldn't sell him, not for £50m" comment.

At the end of the day, we are a selling club. New broadcast deals and restraint on player expenditure might mean it's a sale every 2 years instead of each year, but we remain a selling club in the absence of new ownership/new money/new ideas.

"Is Ross actually a Liverpool supporter? Has anyone else heard that?"

That is bullshit. Ross has always been a Blue. A few misinformed redshite may have momentarily stopped dueling with banjos or shouting "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again" just long enough to deduce that an old photo of Rafa Benitez presenting a young Ross with the Echo Cup Final trophy at Anfield means he 'defo' grew up a squinty eyed, snot scoffing, slack-jawed, jelly head just like them. He didn't. He's never even tasted head cheese.

If a clear big-money offer came in for any of the squad, then the club would sell them. End of. Everton might have a say in deciding which club.

Every club is run by accountants who will weigh up the value of assets to be disposed of. If our friends received an offer of, say £100 million for lovely Luis he would be gone tomorrow.

We, more so than The Sky Four, are a selling club. I will be amazed if the squad that finishes this season is still in place come August. Until we sell our souls and join the "elite" this will be the case. Fact of life, sad as it may be.

It's all part of the big picture to try to upset our players before a big game. The Premier League want the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd etc at the top of the league, because it's "good for the brand". That's why I believe we'll be royally screwed over before the end of the season by some bent ref, probably starting on Sunday. Dodgy pen without a shadow of a doubt.

John Daley 612

Absolutely love it!!!

If you read comics don't expect news

As soon as Everton went 4th the media went into overdrive because one of their top 4 darlings might miss out.

First Barkley, then Stones, previously it was Coleman, next up will be all about Lukaku being linked to a team abroad.

Funny how they are not linking Suarez to Real Madrid while they are in a title fight.

Like I said all this is to disrupt Evertons challange for 4th spot, cheap and nasty but that's the top fours big darlings for you.

David #379, don't you know that if players put in transfer requests they forfeit their entitlement to loyalty bonuses and a percentage of the transfer fee?

That's why Rooney was so desperate to save the Club from administration he handed in a transfer request. And Arteta was so desperate to leave that he put in his transfer request 5 minutes before the close of the window, and so reduced the Club's overdraft as they had been told to do.

Alan #614" Every club is run by accountants who will weigh up the value of assets to be disposed of. If our friends received an offer of, say £100 million for lovely Luis he would be gone tomorrow."

Even accountants know the principles of opportunity costing and would calculate in the future potential of keeping the player versus selling him.

After all, by your reckoning the rs would have sold him last season for £40 mn, and now where would they be?

Dammit, Eric ....you've pointed out the fatal flaw in my argument! If it wasn't for you and those pesky kids........

Tom Locke, there are many photos of a young Steven Gerard in an Everton top, as there are of Carragher, Mcmanaman and Owen. It doesn't make a bit of difference.. Sheedy, Ablett, Watson, Harper. There's just four names of quality Everton players who began as lovers of all things red.

Why was Brenda at the match last night...? That's the question I want answered...

I think Rodgers was at the game as he had nothing better to do. Plus, don't they play palace in a few weeks? I don't see anything sinister in it.
Wasn't Roberto at the united-Bayern game with Bainsey? Maybe they were looking at lahm and Robben for next season?