After walking away from Chelsea this summer, Ross Barkley managed to find a late move as a free agent, as he signed a contract with French side Nice.
It was at the weekend that the midfielder made his debut for the Ligue 1 club, as he was used in the second half of a league match against Ajaccio.
Barkley’s ‘big debut’ for his new side was a subject in the press conference after the match.
Manager Lucien Favre complimented the former Chelsea player for his versatility on the pitch, pointing out the midfielder wasn’t living a good situation with the Blues.
“He came back well. Intelligence of the game, shot from the left on the post. He played 9 and a half, false attacker. He can play several positions, which suits us,” said Favre (via Maxifoot).
“I am very, very satisfied. He played half an hour, it’s not a lot, but he didn’t play much last season. He still trained with Chelsea, he is partly ready, but not ready 100%. Far from it. He needs weeks of training to claim to play 90 minutes. But we saw that he was a footballer.”
Ross Barkley joined Chelsea in January 2018 on a €16.8m move from Everton, but after spending one year and a half at the club, he ended up moving to Aston Villa on a season-long deal in 2020-2021.
The Englishman still had one more chance to prove himself at Stamford Bridge in 2021/22, but with few minutes played under Thomas Tuchel, it was clear he was not part of the club’s plans for the future.
He left the Stamford Bridge with 12 goals and 11 assists in 100 appearances.
