a new contract with the club. Barkley did not feature for Everton in his final season with the club, having been sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury. Chelsea 2018–2019 On 5 January 2018, Barkley joined Premier League club Chelsea for a fee of £15 million, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract with the defending champions. He was assigned shirt number 8 by the club, the same number he wore at Everton. Barkley had been close to joining Chelsea previously on the summer transfer deadline day, before a move failed to materialise due to him suffering a long-term injury and wanting to consider his options. Days after its completion, the transfer was referred to Merseyside Police by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, to investigate the possibility of fraud in the transaction. No fraud was found. Barkley made his debut in a 2–1 defeat at Arsenal in the semi-final second leg of the EFL Cup on 24 January. He came on as a first-half substitute, replacing the injured Willian. Barkley made his Premier League debut for Chelsea in a 3–0 home loss to AFC Bournemouth. At the end of the season he was an unused substitute as Chelsea beat Manchester United in the 2018 FA Cup Final. On 7 October, Barkley scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3–0 win away to Southampton in the Premier League after a strong start to the season under new manager Maurizio Sarri. He followed that up with a last minute equaliser against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on 20 October. On 28 October, he scored for the third game running against Burnley at Turf Moor, netting in a 4–0 win. On 15 February 2019, Barkley scored his first European goal as Chelsea beat Malmö 2–1 in their Europa League last 32 first leg tie. He scored again in his second successive Europa League game against Malmö six days later in the second-leg tie at Stamford Bridge. On 29 May 2019, Barkley appeared in Chelsea's 4–1 victory over Arsenal in the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final, coming on as a substitute for Mateo Kovačić. 2019–20 season On 17 September 2019, Barkley missed a vital penalty in a home Champions League game against Valencia. The miss sparked controversy as moments prior had revealed Barkley stepped up to take the penalty without consulting teammates, particularly Jorginho and Willian, the club's two preferred penalty takers. Chelsea would eventually lose