Portugal coach Roberto Martinez hopes his former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley can still fulfil his potential.
Barkley is now playing in France with Nice.
“I'm really proud that he decided to go abroad," Martinez told talkSPORT. “Ross is one of those players who hasn't been understood. As a British player, he is not a player who fits in a system. I think that's been a big problem for him.
"If Ross Barkley was born in Spain or in a different culture, we would appreciate his incredible physicality for a technical player. In football, you have really exceptional technical players or exceptional physical players. Ross had both.
“But he wasn't a player who fitted into a specific position," he added. “That's a shame because, when we saw Ross in our first season at Everton, we could see what he had. Right and left foot, the way he scored so many goals from distance, the way he would go past players at pace, that individual dribbling quality he had…
“He is always one of these players being asked to do something they can't do. Restricted, being part of a system and doing things at an average level. If you look at the highlights of the 2013-14 season, we were at the doors of Champions League qualification with 72 points. He was one of the main (reasons) for that."
