Everton midfielder Ross Barkley will undergo a medical on Friday before completing a £15 million move to Chelsea, a source close to the deal has told ESPN FC.

Barkley dramatically changed his mind about joining the Premier League champions on transfer deadline day last summer after a fee in the region of £30m had been agreed with Everton, but the source said that the deal has been revived and is nearing completion.

Sources told ESPN FC at the time that Chelsea did not believe they had been rejected by Barkley -- who is in the final year of his contract with Everton -- and would not be deterred from making a renewed approach in January as they look to bolster their squad depth and home-grown contingent.

Asked about Ross Barkley on Friday, Conte told a news conference: "I think that if there is news, the club will inform you. This is the right way.

"For sure we're talking about a young player, an English player. He can have good prospects for Chelsea. I think the club decided on this investment also for his contract.

"He's very young. He has a lot of space for improvement. He's very strong physically, good technique. He's a good prospect but at the same time, it will be very important to understand when he can recover from his injury.

"He had a bad injury and has not played for seven months. We have to hope to recover him very quickly & have him for the rest of the season."

Roos Barkley was close to joining Chelsea from Everton in the summer transfer window of 2017. Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur have also harboured a long-standing interest in Barkley, but sources have told ESPN FC that they are not prepared to rival Chelsea for his signature in January as they pursue other targets favoured by Mauricio Pochettino.

Speaking on Thursday, Everton manager Sam Allardyce admitted that his club were braced to receive further offers from "some of the big boys" for Barkley and conceded that his departure from Goodison Park is inevitable.

Barkley, 24, has not featured for Everton this season as he recovers from a long-term hamstring injury, but the Merseyside club began to plan for life without him last summer by signing Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen.

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte has been vocal in recent weeks about his desire to see the club strengthen his squad "in the numerical aspect" during the January transfer window, and the Blues are expected to actively explore other deals throughout the month.

ESPN FC's senior writer, Mark Ogden, and Tottenham correspondent, Dan Kilpatrick, contributed to this report