Roberto Martinez believes Ross Barkley would be considered a superstar had he been born Spanish.
The former Everton manager was integral to Barkley breaking through as a first-team regular in 2013-14. An incredible campaign saw the Toffees finish fifth on 72 points - enough to secure a Champions League spot this season.
Seven goals for Barkley earned him a World Cup spot and he featured in all three games as England crashed out at the group stage. As expected, top clubs circled but the boyhood Blue would not leave until Chelsea came calling in 2018.
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However, Barkley failed to kick on once securing his move and was allowed to join Nice for nothing last summer. Ex-boss Martinez feels his one-time protege is undervalued in England.
“I’m really proud that he decided to go abroad,” he told talkSPORT. “Ross is one of those players who hasn’t been understood. As a British player, he is not a player who fits in a system. I think that’s been a big problem for him.
"If Ross Barkley was born in Spain or in a different culture, we would appreciate his incredible physicality for a technical player. In football, you have really exceptional technical players or exceptional physical players. Ross had both.”
Martinez also outlined what made Barkley such a talent, with tags at the time likening him to a young Wayne Rooney. Everton have struggled to compete for a top-four spot since that epic 2013-14 campaign.
“But he wasn’t a player who fitted into a specific position,” he added. “That’s a shame because, when we saw Ross in our first season at Everton, he could see what he had. Right and left foot, the way he scored so many goals from distance, the way he would go past players at pace, that individual dribbling quality he had…
“He is always one of these players being asked to do something they can’t do. Restricted, being part of a system and doing things at an average level. If you look at the highlights of the 2013-14 season, we were at the doors of Champions League qualification with 72 points. He was one of the main (reasons) for that.”
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