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Martinez tells Barkley suitors not to waste their time

Midfield prodigy not for sale at any price

Roberto Martinez says that nothing would tempt him to sell Ross Barkley next month if another club were to come in for the rising 20 year-old star, not even a "Gareth Bale-size valuation."

Barkley has shot to prominence in the national consciousness with two stellar displays in front of live television audiences this month and that has led to inevitable speculation suggesting that clubs with big purses could come knocking next month.

Martinez insists, though, that Barkley is in the perfect place to develop as a player and that the boyhood Blue represents everything Everton are trying to build at the moment.

"Ross is in a moment of his career where first, he knows that he needs to carry on developing and this is the perfect place to do that," the Spaniard said.

"Second, he is a mad Evertonian and enjoying every single second. And third, we are in the middle of a season where we would never, ever consider disrupting what we have got in our squad now.

"It is not the right time for the player or the club to consider anything. Even if we got a Gareth Bale-size valuation we would never even consider it in January."

Martinez reiterated that Everton have no need to sell their prodigious young talent saying that, "We are probably in the strongest financial position we have been for a long time. All we are going to make is football decisions.

"If we were going to lose a player it would be to end up with three or four replacements and in a stronger position. That is always the case. Ross is an icon for us. He represents everything we are trying to do this season, so even if a stupid offer arrived in January it would never affect us. It is important for us as a football club to show we are making the right football decisions."

Quotes or other material sourced from The Guardian

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