Everton boss Ronald Koeman has confirmed Ross Barkley will leave the club after rejecting a new contract.
Barkley, 23, has been strongly linked with Tottenham and Arsenal as he enters the final year of his current deal at Goodison Park.
Koeman said in May that Everton needed a sharp response from Barkley regarding their contract offer or they would be forced to sell the midfielder.
And now the Toffees manager has revealed that Barkley will depart his boyhood club after expressing his desire to seek pastures new.
“His personal situation is not so difficult,” said Koeman in a press conference on Wednesday.
“We made a really good offer to him to sign a new contract, he declined that contract and told me that he is looking for a new challenge.
“Okay, he is not in Everton’s future any more. It is his decision. I need to respect that and see what happens.”
Asked if Barkley will "100 per cent" leave, Koeman replied: "Yes. Yeah.”
However, the Dutchman revealed that Everton have not received any offers for Barkley as of yet.
He said: “What I heard from the board at the moment is that there is no offer on the table for Ross.”
The admission that Barkley will leave the Merseysiders will likely fuel their pursuit of Swansea City star Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Various reports claim Everton's latest offer of £45m for the Iceland international has been rejected by Swansea.
Barkley, who joined Everton's youth academy aged 11, made his full senior debut against Queens Park Rangers in 2011 before scoring his first goal for the club against Norwich City in 2013.
He has since gone on to make over 170 appearances in all competitions for Everton, scoring 27 goals.
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