Ross Barkley is set to become the January transfer window’s biggest domestic saga and possibly the biggest domestic deal.

Everton are ready to consider selling prized asset Barkley - perhaps for as much as £60million - to fund a spending spree in order to shore up their faltering squad and make sure the club does not tumble into the relegation battle.

In that respect it is understood Everton will listen to offers is excess of £45m for Barkley.

Ross Barkley (left) could be sold by Everton with Manchester City interested in signing the midfielder

Barkley has impressed since returning to the side after injury earlier in the season

Manchester City are the club most likely to make a move to sign the 21-year-old England international.

Last summer Everton gave the player a new deal worth £65,000 a week to fend off interest from City.

But as it stands City, who see fit-again Barkley as a player who could take them the extra mile in the Premier League title race, would offer to double the player’s wages, then play hard ball with struggling Everton over a fee which last summer was reported to be £60m.

If Barkley is sold by Everton it could bring the situation of suddenly under pressure boss Roberto Martinez to a head.

Roberto Martinez (left) is under pressure at Everton with Steve McClaren a rumoured possible replacement

As revealed last week, Martinez, seemingly fire proof at the start of the season, is now under pressure ahead of Tuesday’s FA Cup tie with West Ham.

If Martinez was to be ousted then Derby manager Steve McClaren - on Newcastle’s shortlist - would be a contender for the Goodison hot seat.

As revealed on November 1 in this column, Steven Gerrard would turn down a new reduced deal with Liverpool and seek new pastures in the USA.

That has come to pass.

Three Major League Soccer clubs - LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC - will bid for Gerrard. But given franchise parameters it is not yet clear who will be able to offer the former England player the £150,000-plus-a-week deal he wants after he rejected a new contract worth half that at Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard (centre) will leave Liverpool at the end of the season with the MLS his likely destination

North American Soccer League side New York Cosmos are also still interested.

There is also still interest in Gerrard in Europe - notably with Italian clubs Inter Milan and Napoli, as well as Spain’s Real Sociedad.

Also as revealed in this column TWO months ago, Tottenham and Liverpool are about to go head to head for West Brom striker Saido Berahino.

Ideally West Brom want £25m for the England Under-21 striker to fund a spending spree now to be masterminded by new boss Tony Pulis.

Spurs value the player at £15m.

Liverpool may go higher but have other targets, not least Bayern Munich’s want away Xherdan Shaqiri and possibly Jermain Defoe as a stop gap.

Saido Berahino, who scored four goals in West Brom's 7-0 win over Gateshead, is wanted by several clubs

Jermain Defoe has suddenly become the most wanted striker available to Premier League clubs.

Defoe, on offer from MLS soccer side Toronto FC, is being considered by Liverpool, Leicester, Hull, Crystal Palace and QPR.

The best package will seal the deal - although a move to Palace and back to his London roots could appeal to Defoe if the Eagles stump up at least £70,000 a week.

Palace also head the race to sign Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo on loan for the rest of the season.

Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels has expressed a preference to join Manchester United which in turn would then see Arsenal land William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon.

I am hearing: Carlos Tevez is about to reject a new deal with Juventus. That could mean that in their final season at the Boleyn Ground and with the ramp up to the Olympic Stadium in mind, West Ham could well push the boat out and sign fans hero Tevez on a massive deal in the summer.

Carlos Tevez is rumoured to be considering rejecting a new contract from Serie A club Juventus

Tevez (left) became a cult hero during his one season at West Ham

I am also hearing: Unlike predecessors Neil Warnock and Tony Pulis, new Palace boss Alan Pardew wont be wearing tracksuits on the touchline. Pardew prefers a more sophisticated, tailored 'Italian' manager look - and indeed employs the services of a personal tailor, Mark Powell of Soho, who makes suits for top stars ranging from Paul Weller to Sir Bradley Wiggins.

BTW: Steven Gerrard deserves all the plaudits he has received. He has had a great career with Liverpool and England.

It should be remembered though, amid all the sentimentality, that one of Gerrard’s motivations to leave Liverpool after all these years is because the two-year contract the club put on the table was, understandably, not as big as the one which will expire in the summer.

About half in fact, a drop from around £140,000 a week to £70k.

ROB SHEPHERD'S TOP MIDFIELDERS 1. Sir Bobby Charlton 2. Paul Gascoigne 3. Bryan Robson 4. Martin Peters 5. Alan Ball 6. Frank Lampard 7. Steven Gerrard 8. Glenn Hoddle 9. Paul Scholes 10. David Beckham * English players only Advertisement

JEFF POWELL'S TOP MIDFIELDERS 1. Sir Bobby Charlton 2. Bryan Robson 3. Duncan Edwards 4. Paul Scholes 5. Johnny Haynes 6. Paul Gascoigne 7. Wilf Mannion 8. Raich Carter 9. Frank Lampard 10. Steven Gerrard * English players only Advertisement

Gerrard could have stayed for two more seasons but after so many years of loyalty decided to take the offer of bigger money in the United States.

There is no doubt though, he has been one of the game’s all-time greats.

It was interesting to see Sportsmail's Jeff Powell put Gerrard tenth in his top ten all time list of England midfielders. Of the midfielders I have seen - so I can’t include legends like Wilf Mannion or Duncan Edwards - here is my top 10.

1. Sir Bobby Charlton, 2 Paul Gascoigne, 3 Bryan Robson, 4 Martin Peters, 5 Alan Ball, 6 Frank Lampard, 7 Steve Gerrard, 8 Glenn Hoddle, 9 Paul Scholes, 10 David Beckham.

I-Say: The farce surrounding the Frank Lampard situation highlights how flawed the loan system has become.

It is now being suggested that beyond remaining 'on loan' at Manchester City from MLS team New York City until the end of the season (as opposed to joining up with them next month) Lampard may, in fact, be signed on a full-time basis by City from, er, City.

Frank Lampard (centre) celebrates scoring Manchester City's third goal in their 3-2 win over Sunderland

Despite the ire of New York fans about the situation that would of course be a formality given both clubs have the same Abu Dhabi based owners. That in itself illustrates a potential long term danger of conflict of interest in the case of multiple ownership of clubs around the globe. Such scenarios will I suspect become more common.

And of course the situation begs the question was there ever the intention for Lampard to play in New York in the first place?

Was his move from Chelsea to the Big Apple then back to the Premier League with a rival club a way of making a smooth departure from Stamford Bridge to the Etihad? Also was it a way of City of getting around Financial Fair Play rules?

Most pressingly, how it is a club like City, who have such a big squad they have often had 20 players out on loan at one time, able to take a player on loan themselves?

Lampard takes part in a football clinic in New York in July after signing for New York City FC

Lampard, pictured during his unveiling at New York City FC, is yet to play a minute in the MLS

Surely the Premier League should step in and stipulate that a club who has more than say two players out on loan can’t take a player on loan.

Moreover, there should be no loans between Premier League clubs unless the player is under 21 or over 30.

The Premier League and FIFA decree third party ownership of players is against the spirit of the game. But I say the two scenarios above amount to the same.

I-Bet: In recent seasons the FA Cup has recovered some of it’s magic. Wigan beating Manchester City in the final two seasons ago and Hull running Arsenal close last year have revived the notion that 'smaller' clubs can win silverware. Or at least get close.

On that basis Southampton surely have a chance to go all the way this season. They are 20-1. West Ham who have an awkward trip to Everton on Tuesday are currently 40-1. Sam Allardyce has vowed to go all out in the FA Cup this season now the team are essentially safe. So it is worth a punt on the Hammers, who reached the final in 2006, at that price.