Reds will encourage Barry to hand in a transfer request

• zocoss

  30 Jul 08, 22:10

  Liverpool and Villa finally agree £19m deal for Gareth Barry as England star secures his Anfield move
  

   

   

  Gareth Barry & Steve Finnan trading places...

   

  Liverpool have drawn a line under the summer's longest-running transfer saga after finalising a £19m deal for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. Fresh from concluding a £20million deal for Spurs striker Robbie Keane, the Anfield club have held further talks with Villa and The Insider understands that they have reached agreement on a £17.5m cash offer plus defender Steve Finnan.

  The move is no surprise but the timing is, as Liverpool have still to sell to raise the relevant funds but know they have offers on the table for Jermaine Pennant and Yossi Benayoun.

  Further interest has also been expressed in Andriy Voronin, Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso. Benitez made public his first bid for Aston Villa midfielder Barry in May and incurred the wrath of Villa boss Martin O'Neill. Barry then confirmed he wanted to leave and criticised O'Neill for a lack of communication. That outburst saw the England playmaker fined and banned by the club.

  Four bids from the Reds were rejected by the midlands club, who were holding out for £18m, before Arsenal reportedly became involved in the race for the England man.

  The 27-year-old, who scored 36 goals in 327 appearances for Villa, was booed when he turned out for Villa in a pre-season game but the crowd appeared fully behind him when he came on as substitute in the Intertoto Cup match against Odense last Saturday.

• Trump_Card

  30 Jul 08, 22:29

  Just another overpriced acquisition

• cantdecide

  30 Jul 08, 22:38

  sian. too expensive for a normal player. i still prefer alonso and he younger. sell pennant pls. kuyt can play right wing.

• youyayu

  30 Jul 08, 23:23

  The Fall Of Liverpool.. wy can't poo just get villa for 20m? wtf right? sign keane and barry for wad =.=

• omgukilledkenny

  30 Jul 08, 23:28

  Is he cup tied for Europe since he played In the Intertoto Cup already?

• gunner77

  30 Jul 08, 23:40

  gratz

• a-Lost-9uY

  30 Jul 08, 23:52

  uhm more/less he's proven in EPL..

  but then in UCL its a mystery as he has no EXP at all..

• dinky1409

  30 Jul 08, 23:55

  quite ex de.. but he better den carrick i feel... no?

• cantdecide

  31 Jul 08, 00:19

  yea.. why cant we spend the cash on villa?

• gasband

  31 Jul 08, 01:11

  http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3887738,00.html

   

  APPARENTLY NOW IT IS OFF.

   

  Aston Villa have confirmed Gareth Barry is staying at the club and will not be joining Liverpool.

  Barry has been a target for Liverpool throughout the summer, but the Premier League rivals have been unable to agree on a fee.

  Liverpool have seen multiple bids for the England international rejected, with Villa reportedly wanting a sum in the region of �18million.

  The midfielder had stated that he wanted to take up the opportunity to move to Anfield to play UEFA Champions League football.

  He was critical of Villa boss Martin O'Neill and was also fined by the club before returning to pre-season training a fortnight ago, and then being booed by fans in a friendly against Walsall last week.

  Deadline passed

  Barry will now spend the new season in the Midlands after Villa revealed Liverpool did not meet the deadline to agree on a deal.

  A statement on Villa's official website read: "This evening, Aston Villa can announce that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club following the interest from Liverpool over recent months.

  "During discussions in the past few days, a final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of and agreed to.

  "This deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with Villa."

  Reds boss Rafa Benitez had admitted on Tuesday, following the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur, that he would have to sell before being in a position to buy Barry.

  However, Benitez will now have to look elsewhere for midfield reinforcements after Villa ended negotiations regarding a possible deal.

• redDUST

  31 Jul 08, 08:42

  yup, i read it is off as well.

  sanity prevailed!

• Beautiful951

  31 Jul 08, 08:50

  Wow I keep reading on how those football people actually buy footballers.

• zocoss

  31 Jul 08, 09:27

  Liverpool miss Aston Villa's deadline on

  Gareth Barry transfer

  

   

   

  THE amazing Gareth Barry transfer saga took a bizarre turn last night when Liverpool caved in to Aston Villa’s demands — 15 minutes too late.

  Two days of intense talks took place with Villa holding out for £18m cash. A 5pm deadline was set by Villa but when Liverpool failed to meet it, Villa immediately released a statement saying that the England star was staying.

  It read: “Aston Villa can announce that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club. “A final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties agreed to. This deadline has passed so Gareth will remain with Villa.”

  The speed in which Villa closed the debate stunned Liverpool and Barry, 27, but the Kop remain determined to get the midfielder. They had agreed to pay £18m but there was haggling over the methods of payment and Liverpool asked for a small deadline extension.

  Villa chief Randy Lerner refused and, even though Liverpool had everything in place by 5.15pm, Villa would not negotiate further. Barry is determined to play Champions League football and Arsenal could now renew their interest with a player-exchange deal.

  Liverpool’s £20m new-boy Robbie Keane made his debut in last night’s friendly in Spain against Villarreal.

   

• reyes

  31 Jul 08, 15:30

  they have whole season to finalise the deal.

  liverpool is club who speak louder than action.

• dukedracula

  31 Jul 08, 16:18

  barry is a dead man walking after offending the manager, club and fans....stupid eager beaver, always keep the pants on until you have the lady spread out...lol...
• zocoss

  31 Jul 08, 17:46

  Villa joy over Barry boost

  

   

   

  MARTIN O'NEILL has revealed his delight after holding on to Gareth Barry. Aston Villa last night pulled the plug on their skipper's £18million move to Liverpool.

  The Reds failed to meet the 5pm deadline set by Villa as talks over the midfielder's future rumbled on. And boss O'Neill has expressed his relief at keeping Barry, 27, at Villa Park.

  He said: “Naturally we’re all absolutely delighted that Gareth will be staying at Villa Park and relieved to find a resolution and closure to the saga. “We had a very positive meeting on Monday when it was agreed between Gareth, his agent, Mr Randy Lerner and myself that a deadline should be communicated to Liverpool to finally resolve the situation.

  “Liverpool were informed and that deadline came and passed. Now we can all look forward to the coming season with relief, anticipation and ambition.”

   

• monoslayer

  31 Jul 08, 17:49

  obi good!

  throughout the talks acted by a big fark.

  small clubs oso got pride one ok!

• the Bear

  31 Jul 08, 17:52

  i wonder why...

  Barry will catch a lot of stick from the fans.. he'll not have the heart to play.. and worse, he's already burnt a bridge before he crossed it

• zocoss

  31 Jul 08, 18:16

  BARRY TO PUT IN TRANSFER REQUEST?

  

  Barry: encouraged to hand in a transfer request

   

  Gareth Barry could hand in a transfer request in an effort to force through a move to Liverpool despite Aston Villa saying the deal is dead. The midfielder has yet to formally request a move - despite telling the media that he wants to play for Liverpool - because it would see him lose a loyalty bonus.  

  But now reports suggest that the Reds will encourage Barry to hand in a transfer request to try and force Villa to accept an offer despite the passing of a deadline. 

  Although Villa have declared the deal dead after Liverpool failed to come up with the funds by 5pm on Wednesday - with suggestions that the Reds missed the deadline by 15-20 minutes - there is cynicism that the story is over. 

  The Daily Mail is still sticking by their Wednesday afternoon exclusive that Liverpool have come up with a £19m deal that involves Steve Finnan moving the other way and claim that the deal will go through on Thursday. 

  This despite Martin O'Neill declaring: "Naturally we're all absolutely delighted that Gareth will be staying at Villa Park and relieved to find a resolution and closure to the saga," said O'Neill. 

  "We had a very positive meeting on Monday when it was agreed between Gareth, his agent [Alex Black], Mr [Randy] Lerner [the chairman] and myself that a deadline should be communicated to Liverpool to finally resolve the situation. Liverpool were informed and that deadline came and passed. Now we can all look forward to the coming season with relief, anticipation and ambition."

   

• monoslayer

  31 Jul 08, 18:19

  wanna buy den fork out the farking cash.

  dun wanna buy den STFU.

  knn. create unrest n conflicts only.

   

• chrisbenoit

  31 Jul 08, 18:46

  Does liverpool need barry? I dont think so.