Liverpool Mayor Calls for Investigation into Ross Barkley Transfer in Angry Letter

Liverpool's mayor is an Everton fan, and he is none too pleased with the club's sale of Ross Barkley to Chelsea.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson is not a happy camper at the moment. 

The 59-year-old lifelong Everton fan was left pretty incensed after finding out that Ross Barkley left the Toffees to join Chelsea last week, and made little secret of his displeasure.

Anderson previously threatened to have words with FA and Premier League officials over the £15m fee, which dropped from £35m since Barkley pulled out of a Chelsea medical during the summer.

And the Echo have since learned of the details in the letter he wrote to the FA bosses. 

The Mayor is certain that the manner in which the transfer was carried out was unfair to Everton and he believes it was a ploy brought about by the player, his agent and the buying club to lower the midfielder's value.

Barkley hasn't kicked a ball this season due to injury and a lack of match fitness, something that was always going to cause his transfer fee to plummet. And Anderson is now calling for a fraud investigation.

He writes: “The fee was believed by many, including myself, to be a good deal and was based on him having just a year left of his contract.

“[This is a] decrease in value of more than one million pounds a week. At best, this represents a very poor deal for Everton Football Club.

“At worst, it could be seen as a deliberate attempt to drive down a player’s value in the transfer market so as to benefit the player, his agent and the buying club.

The Mayor seemingly accused the aforementioned parties of colluding to leave the Toffees out of pocket.

“There seems to be at least a public perception that collusion has taken place," he added. “I am so concerned about the circumstances surrounding this transfer that I am asking the appropriate police authorities to consider whether any fraud has taken place.”

“As a politician - and someone who supports and rightly welcomes scrutiny under the Nolan Principles - I feel it is right that the public receive an assurance on this matter - and that transfers are monitored more closely."