It began for Ross Barkley on the Mystery, the playing fields near his home in Wavertree where he was spotted aged eight. It seems a fitting start to a career plunged into the unknown by a triple leg fracture until he reveals the sacrifice and self-determination that pulled him through. Today he stands as a riposte to the argument that England no longer produces players of individual skill or character, and there is no mystery to how he got there.

Four starts for Everton this season was all it took for Roy Hodgson to hand the 19-year-old his England debut in the World Cup qualifier against Moldova, and for the inevitable links to Manchester United to follow. It may heighten Evertonian unease to hear that as England captain, and a fellow midfielder from Liverpool, Steven Gerrard took Barkley under his wing during the international break. Until they hear what their Anfield rival had to say.

"He was good to me when I was on England duty. I sat next to him on the coach and he gave me loads of advice," explains Barkley in his first major interview. "He said there is nothing better than being a local lad from Liverpool and playing for the team I support, as he's done throughout his career. He told me that playing is the main thing, that going to another team and not playing is no good for my development. He said the big-hitters will be looking at me and be linked with me but that the main thing is I stay with the club I'm at, the team I support and the team I love, which is Everton. I love Everton and all I think about is playing for Everton."

Wayne Rooney once said something similar, of course, but Everton were a different proposition when he emerged and few have developed a sense of perspective at 19 like Barkley. The midfielder started in the Belle Vale Junior League with Ash Celtic, whose president, Alby Heywood, first spotted that combination of strength and technique on the Mystery before the prolific Everton scout Sid Benson pounced yet again. The bus journeys towards recognition began for Barkley from 11 years of age and were a far cry from sitting alongside Gerrard on England's private transport.

He recalls: "My mum had my sister to look after so I had to make my own way to Netherton [where Everton's Youth Academy used to be] and I had to take two buses. It would take about an hour so I had to get home from school and get sorted quick. That is still fresh in my mind. There were other players my age who were getting loads of money. One player used to turn up with his mum and dad and they had a Bentley. I'd be waiting at the bus stop and they would ask me if I wanted a lift home but I'd usually say no because I was too embarrassed. There were times I'd say yes and I'd be buzzing because I'd get home quick. But there were other times when I'd fall asleep on the bus and wake up at the stop after mine. It was only when I was 15 that Everton started sorting me out with taxis."

Barkley immersed himself in videos of Zinedine Zidane, studied Rooney, idolised Paul Gascoigne and realised he had a chance "when Everton started playing me at higher ages". At 13 he played for Everton under-14s, the under-16s at 14 and the under-18s at 15. On 18 September 2010, David Moyes included a 16-year-old Barkley among the Everton substitutes for a Premier League game against Newcastle United. He stayed there, unused, for three more games and was promised a first-team debut upon his return from a European Championship qualifier against Belgium with England Under-19s. Then his world turned.

"I broke my leg," he states, sparing the details of an accidental collision with Andre Wisdom that shattered his leg in three places. "It was difficult for me and I was upset because I wanted to play for the first team at 16. I looked up to Rooney and he had played for Everton when he was 16 and I wanted to do the same. I had been on the bench four times by then and David Moyes had said he wasn't scared to play me. He said he would give me my debut when I got back from England but then I broke my leg. I was upset and a doctor in Belgium told me I might not be able to play again. I phoned my mum and she said I would be OK, so I stayed positive and when I got back to England the doctors said the doctor in Belgium had got it wrong."

Barkley cites his mum, Diane, as the biggest influence on his career and insists she is the reason he has resolved not to follow "those players at Everton and Liverpool in the past who have been built up and haven't made the grade". He adds: "My mum has always kept my feet on the ground and told me that if I carry on working hard it will pay off. I used to say 'If I play for Everton one day' and she would always say 'No, when you play for Everton'. She goes to all the games and though I've moved out now I'm still always going back home for my dinner."

Another key influence during that traumatic time was Moyes. The former Everton manager was distraught about Barkley's injury, struggling through a press conference the morning afterwards, but ensured the precocious talent was signed to a maximum two-and-a half-year contract when he turned 17 two months later. That was replaced by a new four-and-a-half-year deal days after his 18th. Moyes's interest in Barkley's recovery did not end there.

"He sent me and my family on holiday to get away from things after I'd broken my leg," the midfielder reveals. "Obviously I wasn't happy at the time, I was down, and he organised for the club to send us to Tenerife for a week. It showed that he was looking out for me and we had a good time. He came round to our house in Wavertree to see me just after I'd broken my leg. There were a load of kids outside our house when they heard David Moyes was inside. That was an important time for me. He sat us down and said to my mum that I was going to be OK. It was a mad time. A week earlier the doctors were saying my career could be over and then I got a phone-call to say David Moyes was on his way round to speak to me. I was shocked. I felt a lot better about myself after that visit."

It is only this season, however, under Roberto Martínez, that Barkley has been given the chance to establish himself as a first-team regular at Everton and allowed to make mistakes without fear of censure. Two seasons ago he started the campaign for Moyes but was quickly jettisoned after almost costing Everton at Blackburn.

He spent the majority of last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United as Moyes sought to sharpen his competitive edge. The errors are still there – a wayward pass led to two Chelsea chances at Goodison Park last weekend, for example – but they come with the approval of a manager who believes Barkley "can be an Everton great".

"Did he say that?" smiles Barkley, an open, engaging character who shows no sign of the nerves he was said to be feeling before the interview. "It's good to know the manager is saying things like that. Roberto gave me a lot of confidence when he first came in by telling me I was going to be involved this season.

"Roberto is allowing me to make mistakes so I can learn from them. He's giving me information about where not to make mistakes and where I can afford to take risks and I'm taking all of that on board. I'd say the new manager trusts me more, but David Moyes helped me a lot. I used to go into his office and he'd always be honest with me.

"He explained to me that going on loan did not mean I wasn't going to be involved with the club in the future, but that I was going on loan to get better for the future of this club."

Barkley has set his sights on a summer in Brazil next year – "It's a goal to get myself in the squad for the World Cup," he says – and on joining Gerrard, Rooney and company as the latest Liverpool-born player to defy the English talent drain.

"I don't know why you get so many Scousers making it. We're a bit different to anyone else, aren't we? We are aggressive, winners. It must be in our genes."