This one doesn’t even rise to the level of clickbait websites but seems to have developed spontaneously on X – formerly known as Twitter – where some posters have retweeted a rumour that Ross Barkley is set to rejoin his boyhood club.
The former Everton midfielder’s name crops up on the social media channel more as a twisted joke seeing as he is a free agent after leaving Nice but there has never been any indication that the Blues hold any interest in signing him.
Barkley famously left Goodison Park for Chelsea under a cloud given the circumstances of his failed initial move to Stamford Bridge and he ended up moving for £20m less a few months later.
He had emerged from the Finch Farm academy with a glowing reputation and high hopes that he could be the next Wayne Rooney and he initially shone under Roberto Martinez.
Barkley’s career stalled at Chelsea, however, where his inconsistencies came to the fore and he was eventually released.
His move to France offered the chance to reignite his fortunes but thus far it has not enabled him to earn a high-profile move elsewhere.