New Everton manager Sam Allardyce has suggested Ross Barkley may have already agreed a deal with another club.
Barkley very nearly joined Chelsea on deadline day but decided to remain with Everton and make decision about his future in January with his contract due to expire next summer.
Tottenham have been heavily linked with the midfielder, and Mauricio Pochettino is expected to make a move for him in January.
Following Everton’s win over Huddersfield on Saturday, Allardyce said: “I’d like to think we can keep Barkley, unless somebody’s already done a deal for him.
“I am not daft enough to know in this game that those words and phone calls might not have already gone on.
“If we could get Ross Barkley to stay then nobody would be more delighted than me. Whether that is a possibility I do not know.
“For me it’s about getting him back in the squad first and seeing where we are from there.”
There have been no reports suggesting Spurs have agreed terms with Barkley behind the scenes, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
sell baba and kenedy, go for danny rose, sell luiz, get sanchez.