Chelsea offer Aston Villa transfer repeat after Dean Smith snub

Chelsea have reportedly offered Aston Villa the opportunity to buy Ross Barkley this summer.

The 28-year-old spent a season on loan at Villa Park in 2020-21, but after picking up a hamstring injury just a few months into his spell under Dean Smith, Barkley failed to live up to his promising start in claret and blue. The former Everton star played a key role in the club's impressive beginning to the campaign as he scored in a 7-2 win over Liverpool before netting a late winner against Leicester City.

But Barkley would go on to score just one more goal for the club that season and ultimately struggled to keep his place in Smith's first XI due to his lack of form. And nearly 22 months after joining on loan in September 2020, Chelsea are willing to let Barkley leave the club permanently this summer.

The Mirror claim that the midfielder has been offered to both Villa and Everton this summer as the Blues aim to cash in as he has just 12 months left on his contact at Stamford Bridge. The report claims that Villa turned down the option to make his loan move in 2020-21 permanent when Smith was head coach.

It is unlikely that Steven Gerrard would view Barkley as an upgrade on any of his midfielder's and considering he is on over £100,000 a week at Chelsea, according to The Mirror, perhaps a move back to Goodison Park is more realistic.

Discussing Barkley's place in the Chelsea team last season, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said: "Normally you expect - and this is not a secret - somebody to go on loan from Chelsea to Aston Villa that he is the main guy at Aston Villa and then he comes back and takes the next steps.

"This has not happened, so maybe there is a long way to go, but you never know. He has the ability, so let's see.