May 20, 2009
Aston Villa will try to tempt Gareth Barry to stay
Aston Villa are preparing to offer Gareth Barry a vastly improved new contract in a final attempt to persuade him to reject a transfer to Liverpool this summer.
Having had a move to Anfield blocked last August, the England midfield player hopes that an agreement can be reached in the coming weeks, but the Midlands club will increase his wages to £75,000 a week if he extends his stay at Villa Park.
Barry’s existing £47,000-a-week contract, which he signed in 2006, expires at the end of next season, at which point he would be eligible to leave Villa on a free transfer. For that reason, Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, has hinted that it may be difficult to “withstand” bids for Barry if no agreement can be reached on a new deal. But O’Neill and Randy Lerner, the owner, will test the player’s determination to leave by offering a significant pay rise and the promise of a testimonial year in view of his long service.
Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, remains keen to sign Barry, particularly because doubts have resurfaced in recent days about the future of Xabi Alonso. Benítez is far less willing to sell Alonso to finance a deal for Barry than he was last summer, given the Spain midfield player’s impressive form this season, but the Merseyside club are aware of growing interest from Real Madrid.
Benítez had a £20 million bid for Barry vetoed by Liverpool’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, last August, but he is optimistic that there could be no repeat this time, having secured greater autonomy over his transfer budget as part of the new contract he signed in March. Barry would be likely to cost little more than £12 million this time, with Benítez still having money to spend from the sale of Robbie Keane to Tottenham Hotspur in January as well as the funds that he hopes to raise by selling Ryan Babel and Andrea Dossena.
Carlos Tévez, the Manchester United forward, remains a target and seems certain to be available when his two-year lease at Old Trafford expires on June 30, with little prospect of a compromise over a new deal.