Ross Barkley is good enough to leave Everton and hold his own in Manchester United and Chelsea’s XIs, according to former Toffee Kevin Kilbane.

The 21-year-old England international has been lauded since bursting into the Merseysiders’ first-team set-up since the arrival of Roberto Martinez, with his pace, skill and power standout traits.

He has, however, suffered dips in form, with the 2014/15 campaign a relatively poor one following his fantastic performances across the previous season when Everton came close to securing a top four finish.

With Barkley being young, English and talented, there have been links with a host of huge clubs, with United and Chelsea having been aligned with him on numerous occasions.

And Kilbane – a former Goodison Park player – feels that the midfielder is cut out to play in the blue or red shirt of either club:

"Is Barkley good enough for United or Chelsea? Yeah he is.” He told the Daily Star.

"I think Roberto Martinez would be quick to stress that he's going nowhere and he wants to develop him as an Everton player.

"But he has that [level of] ability. When you watch him play, he can glide past players, he can pick passes out.

"He's taken quite a bit of stick from the Everton fans over the last couple of years. That's because he's a young lad that is going to have inconsistent spells. He'll have spells in games where he's not going to be in the match, where you're not going to see him.

“But this season we're starting to see his skills and his level of performance has been outstanding.

"If you're talking about playing for one of the top sides of course he has that ability.

"He's got power, he's got pace, he's two footed. He has that rare ability to change a game and bring it to life."

Given that Raheem Sterling left Liverpool for close to £50m, Everton would surely expect a fee in the same region for their star.

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