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 30 August 2008 08:55 BST

Barry can leave Villa, O'Neill confirms

Monday, 30 Jun 2008 11:24
Manager Martin O'Neill says Gareth Barry can leave Aston Villa
Gareth Barry has been told by manager Martin O'Neill that he can leave Aston Villa for Liverpool this summer.

However, a move will only be possible if the Reds meet the Villans' valuation of the player - which is thought to be around £18 million.

The latest episode in the saga, which has been making headlines since the turn of the year, saw comments attributed to Barry in a tabloid newspaper over the weekend suggesting Villa had not made enough of an attempt to keep him.

Barry also criticised O'Neill for failing to contact him to continue negotiations over a new contract, intimating that he cared more for his punditry work on the BBC's Euro 2008 coverage than about his players.

The England midfielder is quoted by the News of the World newspaper as saying: "My mind is made up, I want to join Liverpool.

"There's no going back, it's time for me to move on. I'm desperate to play Champions League football and that's why I have to leave Villa."

However, O'Neill said he had been "surprised" at the comments.

"Contrary to what was reported, we desperately wanted to keep Gareth at Villa Park and he knows that," the Villa boss told the club's official website.

"We asked both Gareth and his agent to consider what had been discussed at our meeting which included a variety of options to incentivise the player.

"But Gareth came back from England international duty in June and reiterated his intention to join Liverpool and he told me so.

"But Liverpool's valuation of Gareth has been consistently well short of our own and at the moment remains so.

"We have made our position clear in respect of Liverpool's interest in the captain of our club but if Liverpool meet our valuation then Gareth Barry will get his express wish to leave Villa Park."End of story


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