The 19-year-old is firmly on Jose Mourinho’s radar after a bright start to the season.
Chelsea have told one of their senior scouts to use Saturday’s trip to Everton to exclusively assess new England international Ross Barkley.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed an excellent start to the season under new Toffees boss Roberto Martinez, netting a stunning long-range goal against Norwich on the opening day of the season and making his England debut in the 4-0 win over Moldova last week.
The Daily Mail understand the Blues view Barkley as one of the brightest talents in English football and have underlined their interest by assigning an esteemed talent spotter to Goodison Park on Saturday night with the sole intention of watching the Wavertree-born player.
Chelsea have already built an extensive dossier on Barkley but will continue to observe his development before weighing up a future bid as they continue their mission to bring the best young talent in the world to Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho confirmed he had enquired about a young English player that wasn’t Wayne Rooney during the summer, hinting that he was priced out by the club.
“I like a young player, a young English player,” Mourinho said on Friday. “The market is closed but I asked a question to position myself to see where he was.
“We are speaking about a very young player but his price was like he has 50 caps when he had none.
“The price for English players is very high, the market is very difficult.”
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