Who the heck is Joey Barton?

Some footballler called Joey Barton reckons he's the best midfield player in England yet ost peole don't appear to have ever heard of him. With Rooney taking a vw of silence this Barton guy seems keen to fill the void. He is so obscure that he had to give his pearls of widom to a bloody French football magazine and I bet he can't even speak French.  If he really is that good surely Chesea would have bought him by now.