Apparently the long awaited transfer of this Aston Villa man is close being announced very soon!
Rafa Benitez believes Gareth Barry could be a Liverpool player within a week.
The Anfield boss – who has finally agreed Peter Crouch’s £10million move to Portsmouth – expects to conclude the compromise deal that will mean he pays out the £15m that he bid for the Aston Villa midfielder four days ago.
But it will allow include a series of add-ons, such as further England appearances, which will allow Martin O’Neill to claim he got the total of £18m he has held out for all along.
Villa manager O’Neill effectively showed the door to Barry by banning him from any of the club’s premises and fining him two weeks’ wages – about £60,000 – for the player’s criticism of him.
All that remains to be done is for his departure to Liverpool to be announced and O’Neill is understood to be anxious that the matter be resolved so he and his players can focus completely on the forthcoming season. (Sunday Mirror)
I am sure all Liverpool and Villa fans will be thankful when this is all done and dusted. The moment Barry was banned from the club it was only a matter of time before he was set to leave. It’s a move that will surely leave a bad taste in the mouths of those at Villa Park who idolised the England international, but it’s hard to say who, if anyone, is in the wrong here. Gareth has been an excellent servant to the club and I guess therefore has the right to expect to be allowed to move on however O’Neill also has the right to get what he feels he deserves for one of his prized assets. Do both sets of fans feel that its only a matter of time before the deal is done as this source suggests, or do we have a fair bit of back and forth to go on this one?