Rafael Benitez is prepared to dig in and play a waiting game with Aston Villa in order to sign Gareth Barry.
Villa rejected a third Liverpool bid for their captain on Thursday, believed to be in the region of £15m but with manager Martin O’Neill admitting that the England international has his heart set on a move to Anfield, Benitez is in no rush to push through the move this weekend.
The Spaniard is away from the club until next week and although he realises that Liverpool must now make a fourth offer for Barry, he is willing to bide his time to capture the player he knows is craving Champions League football next term.
An irate O’Neill, who is unhappy with the way Liverpool have publicly conducted their attempts to pursue Barry, has broken down all direct contact with Benitez and is also at odds with their valuations of Peter Crouch and Scott Carson who are possible makeweights in the deal.
Although O’Neill has conceded that Barry’s desire for a move will now mean that his club football now lies away from Villa Park, he and owner Randy Lerner remain determined to get as large a fee as possible for their prize asset who they value at £20m.
Benitez is also willing to wait on Barry because any potential exit from Anfield for Xabi Alonso is not likely to be completed until after the European Championship finals.
Reports in Italy yesterday suggesting that Liverpool had agreed a £14.2m fee with Juventus for the Spanish international midfielder are wide of the mark.
Although Liverpool have had lengthy talks with the Serie A club, who are now believed to be eyeing Bayern Munich’s German international Bastian Schweinsteiger as a possible alternative, they have still yet to receive an official bid for Juventus for Alonso who they value at £16m.
Financial constraints at Anfield mean that Benitez will have to offload several players this summer to balance the books for big money purchases like Barry.
Villa rejected a third Liverpool bid for their captain on Thursday, believed to be in the region of £15m but with manager Martin O’Neill admitting that the England international has his heart set on a move to Anfield, Benitez is in no rush to push through the move this weekend.
The Spaniard is away from the club until next week and although he realises that Liverpool must now make a fourth offer for Barry, he is willing to bide his time to capture the player he knows is craving Champions League football next term.
An irate O’Neill, who is unhappy with the way Liverpool have publicly conducted their attempts to pursue Barry, has broken down all direct contact with Benitez and is also at odds with their valuations of Peter Crouch and Scott Carson who are possible makeweights in the deal.
Although O’Neill has conceded that Barry’s desire for a move will now mean that his club football now lies away from Villa Park, he and owner Randy Lerner remain determined to get as large a fee as possible for their prize asset who they value at £20m.
Benitez is also willing to wait on Barry because any potential exit from Anfield for Xabi Alonso is not likely to be completed until after the European Championship finals.
Reports in Italy yesterday suggesting that Liverpool had agreed a £14.2m fee with Juventus for the Spanish international midfielder are wide of the mark.
Although Liverpool have had lengthy talks with the Serie A club, who are now believed to be eyeing Bayern Munich’s German international Bastian Schweinsteiger as a possible alternative, they have still yet to receive an official bid for Juventus for Alonso who they value at £16m.
Financial constraints at Anfield mean that Benitez will have to offload several players this summer to balance the books for big money purchases like Barry.
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