Koeman Not Confident On Barkley

Ronald Koeman is not confident Ross Barkley will sign a new contract.

When asked for an update on Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku, Koeman answered “I don’t know”

Prompted about the ultimatum he gave to Ross to sign before the end of the season, Koeman replied: “But it’s after the game [Arsenal]. On Monday. Then we’ll know it”

When asked how important it was to keep Barkley, Koeman answered: “If you offer a player a contract. A good contract. That means that you like to keep the player. I don’t need to explain more. If we don’t want the player to stay longer, then we don’t offer him a new contract”

Koeman was then asked if he feels confident Barkley will stay at Everton, he bluntly answered “No. No because it’s a long time that he is thinking about his future. I’m not worried because I like to work with players who like to stay. It’s not about his decision, we will go on looking for players in that position and even when he stays, there’s more competition for him next season”

On being asked “Is your patience running out with Ross?”, Koeman said: “I spoke to the player, the board spoke to the player and his agent. We will see what the answer will be.

“We need an answer after the weekend, I don’t know what will happen if he doesn’t give any answer. I don’t know.