Chelsea in talks with Everton midfielder

Premier League holders Chelsea will reportedly enter talks with Everton over a potential deal for Ross Barkley this weekend.

The England international is currently recovering from a hamstring injury sustained while training with the Toffees' first-team.

Barkley's deal at Goodison is due to expire at the end of next season, and it is understood that Ronald Koeman will sanction his transfer to the highest bidder prior to next week's deadline.

Tottenham Hotspur have been deemed as frontrunners to sign Barkley over the past few months, but according to The Mirror, the Blues are set to hijack the move with discussion likely to take place this weekend.

Everton had initially valued Barkley at around £50m but they could now take just half of that value in order to offload his services this month.

Koeman has already made eight signings during this summer's transfer window with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jordan Pickford making early impressions with their showing.