Ross Barkley could play at Hillsborough again after ‘talks’ with Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship rivals

The 29-year-old has spent the past season in France playing for OGC Nice, but it would appear that there is a possibility of him returning to his homeland over the summer after it was announced that he would be leaving the Ligue 1 outfit.

Barkley spent a short loan spell at Hillsborough back in 2012 when he scored four goals in 13 games in the Championship in what was the last season that he played in the second tier of English football.

Now though, as per a report by TEAMtalk, Michael Carrick is looking to use his reputation to tempt the England international to Teeside after they missed out on promotion to the Premier League following a play-off defeat to Coventry City.

The former Everton midfielder has played against Wednesday just once since his loan spell over a decade ago - in Chelsea’s FA Cup win at Stamford Bridge in 2019 - and has never returned to S6 for any of the three clubs that he’s played for post-Owls.

It remains to be seen whether Boro will be successful in their attempts to lure Barkley to the Championship for 2023/24, though, especially considering that he’s hardly going to be short of options as he weighs up his next move.