Everton boss Ronald Koeman says his decision to give Ross Barkley one week to sign a new deal is not an ultimatum but an allowance for the midfielder’s “incredibly slow” handwriting.

Speaking exclusively to Football Burp, the Dutchman revealed that Barkley would have signed the contract months ago if he was able to write words at a normal rate.

He said: “You should see him at it, he lolls out his tongue and does all these unnecessary big loops.

“He even wraps his palm around the pen and holds it upright, like an infant. We’ve had to tell him to stop giving autographs because it eats hours out of his training time.

“But he’s currently about halfway through his surname so we’re hopeful of having it sorted by the start of next season.”