Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has hailed ‘very talented’ Luton Town star Ross Barkley, who he tried to sign as manager at Tottenham.
The Blues face Luton on Friday in their third Premier League game of the season as Pochettino looks to secure his first win as boss.
Luton were promoted to the top-flight last term and have strengthened their squad this summer, with former Chelsea star Barkley one of their new arrivals.
The west Londoners signed Barkley in a £15m deal from Everton five years ago but his spell at Stamford Bridge was largely impacted by injury problems.
Barkley registered 12 goals and 11 assists across 100 games for Chelsea between 2018 and 2022 while he also spent time out on loan at Aston Villa.
Chelsea sold Barkley to French club Nice last year but after one season in Ligue 1 he returned to the Premier League by joining the Hatters.
Pochettino tried to sign Barkley when he was managing Tottenham and was full of praise for the 29-year-old Englishman in Thursday’s press conference.
‘You remember things from the past!’ Pochettino told a reporter when quizzed about the Argentine’s previous attempts to sign Barkley.
‘Sometimes you can get players, sometimes they can decide to move to another side. I was disappointed but we have to understand it is business. Sometimes a player has different interests.
‘He’s a great player, a very talented player, we don’t know if he’s going to play or not but we know the quality he can add.’
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