It appears that ‘The Gareth Barry Saga’ will come to a head over the next few days, just what will the end result be?

The player is starting to get a bit tetchy with Aston Villa, slating Martin O’Neill for working as a BBC pundit but not finding them time to speak with Barry regarding his future. However, the Daily Mail also reports that the Villans manager has laid down the law, stating that until Liverpool meet the correct asking price, the England international is going nowhere. Just who will win this battle of wills?

O’Neill said: ‘The chairman and myself are surprised at what Gareth has said. Contrary to what he alleges, we desperately want to keep him at Villa Park - and he knows that.

‘We asked both Gareth and his agent to consider what had been discussed in our meeting, including a variety of options to incentivise the player. ‘Gareth returned from England’s matches at the beginning of June only to reiterate his intention to join Liverpool.

He told me that directly. ‘But Liverpool’s valuation of Gareth has come short of our own. We have made our position clear. If Liverpool meet our valuation, Gareth will have his express wish to leave Villa Park granted.’

Will Rafael Benitez be Barry’s genie in the lamp and grant the player his wish to feature for Liverpool? I can just imagine the goateed-one in a genie’s outfit, although the Spaniard does seem unwilling to be held to ransom by the Midlands club, thus jeopardising the transfer. Can’t Barry just fork out the difference himself?!