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O'Neill: Liverpool Never Made A Bid For Barry
'MON' is not sure why Rafa Benitez is complaining about Barry's move, given that Villa never received a bid from the Reds.
Jul 19, 2009 8:58:40 PM
Martin O'Neill, the Aston Villa manager, has claimed that Liverpool lost out on Gareth Barry because they were too complacent in their bid to sign him him.
Rafa Benitez hit out at Barry for being 'greedy' after he chose to join Manchester City, but O'Neill saw things differently.
He told The Daily Express, "Did Liverpool take it for granted that Gareth Barry would sign for them? They may well have done.
"And they missed out on Barry for that reason? They may well have done.
"All I will say is that I said to Barry’s agent for us not to have the same debacle as last year, that they were perfectly at liberty to speak, I assumed to the top four teams. Liverpool were aware of the price we were asking if that was the case.
"Liverpool did not contact us directly at all in this matter and never offered any money for him.
"So the impression I got was that eventually it was a straight choice."
O'Neill then admitted that Barry's decision had taken him by surprise, continuing, "I am not protecting anyone here because it doesn’t really matter.
"I said I was a bit surprised because Barry had mentioned playing in the Champions League as a reason for going, that’s a person’s prerogative, but Liverpool had not put a bid in."
Arjun Miglani, Goal.com
For all the latest transfer news visit Goal.com's Transfer Zone.
Rafa Benitez hit out at Barry for being 'greedy' after he chose to join Manchester City, but O'Neill saw things differently.
He told The Daily Express, "Did Liverpool take it for granted that Gareth Barry would sign for them? They may well have done.
"And they missed out on Barry for that reason? They may well have done.
"All I will say is that I said to Barry’s agent for us not to have the same debacle as last year, that they were perfectly at liberty to speak, I assumed to the top four teams. Liverpool were aware of the price we were asking if that was the case.
"Liverpool did not contact us directly at all in this matter and never offered any money for him.
"So the impression I got was that eventually it was a straight choice."
O'Neill then admitted that Barry's decision had taken him by surprise, continuing, "I am not protecting anyone here because it doesn’t really matter.
"I said I was a bit surprised because Barry had mentioned playing in the Champions League as a reason for going, that’s a person’s prerogative, but Liverpool had not put a bid in."
Arjun Miglani, Goal.com
For all the latest transfer news visit Goal.com's Transfer Zone.
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