Ross Barkley snubbed a switch to Chelsea after Antonio Conte turned his phone off on deadline day and failed to speak to the Everton midfielder.

That is the remarkable claim from Joey Barton, who is co-hosting Monday’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.

Barkley had seemed all set to join the Premier League champions after they had a £35m bid accepted by Everton on Thursday and he reportedly travelled to London for talks.

But he opted against the move – leaving Chelsea stunned – and Barton has now revealed the reasoning behind the 23-year-old’s decision.

He said: “I heard a really interesting thing about what happened with the Ross Barkley transfer. Conte turned his phone off and Barkley’s representatives were trying to contact him.

“He wanted to say ‘look, where am I going to play’, and Conte turned his phone off. That is why Barkley got cold feet and never signed.

“He thought, ‘well, if the manager isn’t answering the phone to me he clearly doesn’t want me’, and that is why he went back to Everton.”