Not so long ago he was being written off as a sticky Toffee pudding — now he is mixing it with the cream of the Premier League.
And I believe he could be the icing on the cake for England as the missing creative ingredient in their midfield.
His renaissance, which has seen him fight his way into the Chelsea team and back into Three Lions recognition, is certainly one of the stories of the season so far.
He is fulfilling the potential of the hot prospect who was hailed as the next Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard rolled into one when he burst on to the scene at Everton seven years ago.
Barkley’s promising start to his career at the Toffees earned him a reputation as one of the best young players in Europe and led to England call-ups.
By 2016 he had won 22 caps and a place in Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, before the wheels started coming off.
Injuries, a contract dispute and off-the-field issues clearly affected his form and relationship with Everton and for 18 months he hardly kicked a ball for club or country.
He was accused of being overweight and public ultimatums made by then-boss Ronald Koeman to Barkley over signing a new deal did not help his predicament either.
His situation hardly appeared to have improved after he joined Chelsea for £15million in January.
It was a brave move as the odds were stacked against him getting anywhere near the first team.
Blues boss Antonio Conte clearly did not fancy Barkley, giving him just two starts in the league and one sub appearance in the FA Cup.
I’m sure there were a few sniggers at Goodison as the midfielder’s critics consigned him to the scrapheap.
But following the appointment of Maurizio Sarri as Conte’s successor in the summer, Barkley has worked his socks off, come back fitter, got himself into the Chelsea team and is back in the England squad.
He is scoring goals and providing assists and said the past few weeks have been the best of his life.
But the best may be yet to come as he could be the answer to England’s midfield problem.
Gareth Southgate has made enormous strides as Three Lions boss but is lacking creativity in the middle of the park.
Barkley has shown he could be missing piece in the jigsaw.
He was excellent again in Chelsea’s 4-0 win at Burnley on Sunday — although the hosts were poor and played right into his hands with the amount of space they gave him.
But the way he took advantage of that tells you his mindset is now pointing in the right direction and that can only be good news for Chelsea and England.
He backed himself to go to Stamford Bridge. He always insisted he could get back in the England squad. Not many believed him.
But he has done it by knuckling down and turning his career around.
He revealed he watched videos of Napoli playing under Sarri so that he could see how his new manager likes to play.
That not only highlights great dedication and intelligence but also just how much Barkley has matured as a player. He is now a student of the game.
If a young overseas player had done this everybody would be raving about it and asking why our boys are not clever enough to do that.
But Barkley was and it has clearly helped him improve his game.
He looks to have addressed his weaknesses and, at 24, has done so at exactly the right age.
If he continues like this he probably has another five or six years at a top club where he will win things — and we can only hope this winning habit spills over into his international career, too.
He obviously has the right people around him. The way he now plays, acts and speaks bear all the hallmarks of a model professional.
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