Ross Barkley finally left Everton last week, as he completed a £15m transfer to Chelsea, the club he rejected on deadline day in August.

The two clubs had previously agreed a £35m deal for the England international, only for Barkley to decline the west Londoners, citing a desire to recover from injury and then reassess his options this month.

Barkley has been heavily criticised by his former supporters for seemingly costing the Toffees £20m plus his wages for the past four months, all while he sat on the sidelines.

Having come through the academy at Everton, and as a boyhood fan of the team, it seems a sour way to leave the club, and he can certainly expect a fiery reception when he returns to Goodison Park next season.

However, Chelsea have got an unbelievable deal for a player who on his day can set the world alight, with fantastic technique and equally good on either foot, and his resale value will be a considerable amount higher than £15m.

Antonio Conte confirmed that Barkley is still recovering from injury and as a result is unavailable for tonight's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, though he is training with the first-team.

The transfer was the subject of a letter by Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson earlier this week, who called for the FA to investigate the transfer, due to the fact Barkley cost Everton more than £1m a week in the loss of his transfer value.

"At best, this represents a very poor deal for Everton Football Club," he started.

"At worst, it could be seen as a deliberate attempt to drive down a player’s value in the transfer market so as to benefit the player, his agent and the buying club."

Anderson will undoubtedly be even more incensed when he sees the reported fee that Barkley's agent Paul Martin received for the transfer, which according to the Times, stands at a staggering £7m.

While that isn't in the league of the sorts of fees that Mino Raiola and Jorge Mendes receive for their players, it is almost 50% of the fee Chelsea paid Everton for the player.

That stat is a worrying mark of how the transfer market has developed in terms of player and agent power, and the Toffees will certainly be feeling ripped off by both.

For Barkley's new club though, £22m for the player and agent fees is still a bargain, and more importantly, a saving of £13m on the fee they were originally going to pay Everton.

Maybe the Mayor of Liverpool has a point after all.