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Spanish pundit Guillem Balague has claimed that Ross Barkley chose to move to Chelsea instead of Tottenham Hotspur because the Blues offered him more money.

Barkley recently signed a five-and-a-half-year deal with the champions, and speaking about the transfer Balague was enraged by the Englishman's decision and claimed that he snubbed Spurs because they didn't offer him enough money, as quoted by  Express.

"I'm pretty sure Spurs were there or thereabouts in terms of Ross Barkley as he fits the mould of what they want to get. Ross had a decision to make - do you want to be challenged by someone saying you must improve, you're not good enough as you are, you need to change things - I'm talking about Pochettino.

"This is a challenge that has to do with do you want to improve, do you want to see yourself doing stuff you perhaps don't want to do, a lot of things that make him a better player, but with less money.

"Then Chelsea came with the money, boom, without the guarantee of being a regular. Where's he going to play? It was a decision to make. I'm disappointed."

Balague spent some time with Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino after the two recently wrote a book together, and the Spaniard claimed if Barkley moved to Spurs he would have improved as a player due to the Argentine manager's track record with young English players.

"You can see 17 out of the last 22 to make their debut with England have been in the hands of Pochettino. We are saying he improves players. 

"There's a situation between Antonio Conte and Chelsea of tension and you don't even know if he will be there. What is the progression? What if the next guy who comes, and it won't be Diego Simeone by the way. What happens if the next guy who comes says you're not giving me enough, what about that?

"Why not ignore the money and go for something that will make you better?What is he going to add to Chelsea by the way, who are the champions of England."

(You may also be interested in Ross Barkley's Cut Price Move to Chelsea Has Liverpool Mayor Outraged on Twitter)

It did seem a strange move for Barkley, as Chelsea already have a whole host of attacking threat in the central attacking midfield role, and in central midfield they are well covered. The Englishman could well find himself on the bench for the rest of the season, and with that could miss what currently is an outside chance of going to the World Cup in the summer.