Burnley midfielder Joey Barton has insisted that a Premier League club should have taken a gamble on him this summer, arguing that clubs' "lazy" attitude means that he is only judged on his past reputation.
Barton moved to Burnley after being released by Queens Park Rangers earlier this summer, but is adamant that signing him on a free transfer would have been a "no-brainer" for a top-flight club.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the 32-year-old said: "From time to time, people think that it is Charles Manson or Fred West who is going to come into the building, but that is the ridiculous legacy that I have, which is baffling.
"I think that if you are a Premier League club, anyone from 10th downwards, and you had the opportunity to take me on a free transfer it was an absolute no-brainer.
"But they are lazy, they do not do their homework so they tune into things that you did in 2006, 2007, rather than look at what is going on, what you have done in the last three years, how your family circumstances have changed."
Barton was on the brink of signing for West Ham United earlier in August before the club pulled out of the deal, reportedly due to Hammers fans' resistance to the idea of signing the controversial midfielder.
Tom Nightingale
