Liverpool Patient Over Barry After Villa Demand £20m

Despite having already submitted a number of bids to Villa, the proposed transfer of the midfielder currently looks no closer to happening as the clubs wrangle over the size of the transfer fee.

Liverpool have reportedly offered Villa £10 million for the midfielder before upping their offer to £15 million, however both bids have been rejected by Aston Villa.

Martin O’Neill, the Aston Villa manager, has admitted he wants his captain to stay at the club and has valued the midfielder at £20 million, a fee that Liverpool currently appear unwilling to meet.

The situation is complicated by the position of Xabi Alonso at Liverpool. Alonso had been thought to be in the process of moving to Juventus however the transfer is yet to happen.  

It is thought that Liverpool may need the funds generated from the Alonso sale to help fund Barry’s move and this may be one of the reasons the club are currently unwilling to increase their offer.  

However as Barry has already confessed he would like to move to Liverpool, the Anfield club appear to be in a no-lose situation and it seems certain that the Villa captain will arrive on Merseyside at some point over the summer.  

Barry is the longest serving player at Aston Villa and has made over 300 appearances for the club. However, despite this he has admitted he would like to join Liverpool in order to play Champions League football next season, which he feels would help cement his place in the current England side.  

Gill Clark