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Barkley better off staying Blue

Martinez has no interest in selling rising star

Responding to the 20 year-old's call-up to the England squad and the inevitable speculation about his future after an explosive first full season in the Premier League, Roberto Martinez has re-stated his commitment to keeping Ross Barkley at Everton, irrespective of what kind of money the club might be offered for him should he take Brazil by storm this summer.

Fresh reports of interest from Chelsea in the past few days — likely more media mischief than evidence of any impending concrete bid — have raised the prospect of the Blues being put in the position of having to consider a huge cash offer for their precocious young talent but Martinez is adamant that Barkley is going nowhere.

"Ross is a phenomenal talent, probably the best English talent I have ever seen," the Spaniard says, "but he is not the finished article yet and you need to be very careful.

"It's our duty to protect him and Everton is the perfect place for him for the next 12 months."

Martinez is under no illusions that he will need to bring success to Goodison in order to keep young diamonds like Barkley and John Stones at Goodison Park long term but he believes that the stability on offer at Everton is vital for their current development.

"In football obviously you can never speak about the future," he continues. "We need to come along and try to get into the top four positions to offer players like Ross the next stage of their development.

"But Ross is delighted at Everton and feels very much in the right place at the right time of his career."

The manager is confident that, based on the way in which he has risen the big occasion for the Blues this past season, his young charge can make a difference for England in Brazil next month if called upon:

"Ross is the only footballer who I know for a fact just loves the game. Put him on a football pitch and he will just be himself, nothing is going to faze him.

"There are certain types of games that will suit him better than others, but he is ready now to fulfil whatever role the England manager wants to give him.

"If you analyse Ross's season it's been against the top teams when he's excelled. For us he's a star and whatever happens in the World Cup is not going to change that perception."

Quotes sourced from The Express

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