Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool, is an unabashed Everton supporter.
It has not been a great season in the blue half of the city, and it didn’t get much better as the Ross Barkley transfer saga mercifully ended with Barkley moving to Chelsea for around 15 million pounds. Chelsea was incredibly close to signing Barkley for 20 million quid more in the summer, only for him to back out of the deal at the last minute.
Combining the silliness of that transfer saga, with plenty of angst stemming from a poor start to Everton’s season caused Anderson to say this about the transfer on Twitter:
The move of @RBarkley20 from .@Everton to Chelsea today for £15 million after not playing one minute this season & after his Agent pulled the deal for £35 million in the summer, is a smack in the face to Everton fans who have always supported him loyally.
Barkley #unforgiveable👎— Joe Anderson (@joeando58) January 5, 2018
Both Lukaku and Stones not homegrown talent left Everton and we got a great price, Barkley home grown player has left and has cost EFC £20 million at least. There is no defence for me of him,he could have signed a longer contract and still left the Club.
— Joe Anderson (@joeando58) January 5, 2018
I will be writing to .@premierleague & .@FA calling for investigation into the circumstances around the transfer of Ross Barkley between Everton and Chelsea. Agent pulls transfer on deadline day of £35 million doesn’t play again transfer 4 months later £20 million
— Joe Anderson (@joeando58) January 5, 2018
Could you imagine Bill De Blasio doing this after another terrible Knicks trade, for example? Neither could I. And even though this is an elected politician going on a Twitter rant most supporters would keep off social media, Anderson remained relatively calm, somehow. He also did write that letter in full, which the Liverpool Echo was able to get a copy of to show it’s readers.
For a man calling the police over a soccer player’s transfer because he believes it is so unfairly one-sided, he comes off as reasonable. However, it’s hard to get around the fact that this isn’t some average supporter doing this; it’s the Mayor of Liverpool. Sadly, no matter how rational he tries to present his arguments, this is how the world of football transfers works, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
Maybe he’s frustrated because this happens to Everton more than other clubs, but such is modern football. Perhaps he can campaign for Parliament on trying to change the rules for transfers. He’d get more than a few votes.
