Hip hip…hooray! We might not have had much sun this summer, but we’ve had a veritable plethora of speculation surrounding the future of a certain Aston Villa midfielder. To be fair, it’s not as though the fourth estate have been inventing stories (with the exception of one or two who write lies to sell newspapers), the simple truth was that Gareth Barry handed in a transfer request and expected to be joining Liverpool in weeks, if not days.

However, like a fairytale gone wrong, the England international has seen his current club and his supposed future club fail to agree terms over his sale, with the Midlands club demanding a hefty ransom and Liverpool seemingly failing to stump up the readies to land one of their transfer targets. Now both the Reds and Arsenal (the dark horses in this saga) have seemingly admitted defeat, with The Guardian reporting that Gazza Bazza is going to be a Villan for another season.

“After much speculation I can confirm that Gareth Barry will not leave Aston Villa before the transfer window closes,” said a statement released by Alex Black, who represents Barry. “Gareth made the decision to stay two weeks ago and informed Aston Villa of his intentions.”

Goodness me, much ado about nothing or what! You wouldn’t be surprised if, off the back of this announcement, Liverpool storm in with a late bid and Barry is on his way. Nevertheless, Villa fans will be happy he’s sticking around (providing his attitude is right) and Pool fans won’t be that bothered as it means Xabi Alonso is staying at Anfield. Good news all round (unless you’re Gareth Barry!)?