'He Is One Of The Cleverest Players I Have Played With...'

Everton captain Phil Jagielka led the tributes when Gareth Barry swapped Goodison for West Brom

A cynical mind believes only the most ruthless of personalities – prepared to trample underfoot anybody in their way – can reach the top of a trade.

The case of the immaculate Gareth Barry shows up that theory as bunkum.

Barry is poised to eclipse Ryan Giggs’s Premier League appearance record, having hitherto played a monstrous 630 matches in the competition, across a career now in its 20th season.

Talk to men who have encountered Barry at either end of this personal two-decade exhibition of class and grace – and you will be met by the same tales of a consummate professional, who is exceptionally good at his job.

Phil Jagielka admits he is “gutted” he will not witness first-hand his friend overhauling Giggs’s 632 Premier League outings – a tally thought impregnable when the Manchester United great called time on his playing days three years ago.

Barry ended his four-year stay at Goodison Park last month, when he signed for West Bromwich Albion – having played 131 of his top-flight games in an Everton shirt.

The midfielder is in his 37th year and would be excused if his appetite for getting his boots dirty every week was becoming sated.

Barry, though, is as hungry as ever. It is a testament to his enduring quality that Ronald Koeman was reluctant to sanction the departure of the “perfect professional”, a footballer he considers as one of the best he has ever managed.