Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice. Barkley began his professional career at Everton in 2010. After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United he became a regular in their team, playing 179 total games and scoring 27 goals for Everton. He signed for Chelsea in 2018 and won the FA Cup in 2018, the UEFA Europa League in 2019 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021. Barkley made his debut for the England national team in 2013. He played for England at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was selected in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 but did not appear in any of England's matches. Early life Barkley was born in Liverpool, Merseyside. He is of Nigerian descent through his father and bears his mother's maiden name instead of his father's name, Effanga. He joined Everton as an 11-year-old and played for the club's youth teams. He was named as a substitute in a first team league match in early 2010–11, and was expected to make his Premier League debut before his leg was broken in one place after a collision with Liverpool's Andre Wisdom during an England under-19 match in October 2010. Club career Everton Early career He recovered from his injury in time to join the first team for pre-season training before the beginning of 2011–12. During pre-season, Tim Cahill heralded Barkley as the most talented footballer he had worked with. He made his debut in Everton's first home match of the season, a 1–0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers, and was named man of the match by Radio City Sport. His early performances were highly praised, with Martin Keown predicting that "[Barkley will] be one of the best players we'll ever see in this country." He signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract in December 2011. On 14 September 2012, Barkley joined Sheffield Wednesday on a one-month loan, making his debut the same day in an away defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. He scored his first goal for the club, a penalty, against Bolton Wanderers the following week. His loan was extended before he was recalled by Everton after playing 13 matches for Wednesday. He again went out on loan, this time to Leeds United for an "initial one-month stint", in January 2013 and made his debut for