5 players looking to rebuild their careers in 2018/19 after serious injuries

#5: Ross Barkley

Ross Barkley has struggled to kickstart his Chelsea career

The case of England international Ross Barkley is perhaps the most bizarre story of 2017/18 when it comes to players who have been sidelined. Beginning the season at Everton, Barkley was largely frozen out by then-boss Ronald Koeman as he refused to sign a new contract and made his intention to move to another club clear. As the season started, though, he picked up a serious hamstring injury and then surprisingly turned down a move to Chelsea.

The injury kept him out until January’s transfer window, where – in a strange turn of events – he finally made the move to Stamford Bridge, albeit for £20m less than the original fee of £35m that had been spoken about. The move was controversial and caused the Mayor of Liverpool to complain about “fraud”, although no wrongdoing was eventually found.

Since then though, Barkley has barely featured for his new club, bringing into question exactly why he moved in the first place. To date, he’s appeared three times for the Blues – with only one of those games being in the Premier League – and in February he picked up another hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines for another period.

Whether Barkley can rebuild his career at Stamford Bridge is anyone’s guess, but with Antonio Conte reportedly on his way out of the club, 2018/19 could be his chance to impress a new manager and establish himself as a first-team player. Considering he was once considered the “new Paul Gascoigne” then he clearly has the talent to do so. To say next season will be pivotal for him would be an understatement.