Gareth Barry was last night facing up to the sobering possibility of starting the season as an Aston Villa player, after it emerged that Rafael Benítez was beginning to explore other options in the transfer market. The Liverpool manager has become exasperated with Villa's refusal to negotiate over their £18m valuation of Barry, leaving the midfielder, who picked up an injury on his return to training yesterday, increasingly unsure of his future.
The 27-year-old was expected to hold talks with Martin O'Neill on his first day back at the club - he was banned from reporting for pre-season training for two weeks after giving an unauthorised interview - but those discussions are now likely to take place today after the Villa manager spent yesterday in meetings. Barry is keen to push through a move to Liverpool, although there is no sense that O'Neill or Villa's owner, Randy Lerner, will drop their asking price.
The impasse has left Benítez deeply frustrated and prompted him to concentrate his efforts on making other signings before considering another move for Barry. Even then it is doubtful if Liverpool will offer £18m, increasing the likelihood that the England international will still be at Villa when the Premier League season starts in little more than four weeks' time. He will certainly play no part against Odense in the Intertoto Cup on Saturday after picking up a foot injury.
The 27-year-old was expected to hold talks with Martin O'Neill on his first day back at the club - he was banned from reporting for pre-season training for two weeks after giving an unauthorised interview - but those discussions are now likely to take place today after the Villa manager spent yesterday in meetings. Barry is keen to push through a move to Liverpool, although there is no sense that O'Neill or Villa's owner, Randy Lerner, will drop their asking price.
The impasse has left Benítez deeply frustrated and prompted him to concentrate his efforts on making other signings before considering another move for Barry. Even then it is doubtful if Liverpool will offer £18m, increasing the likelihood that the England international will still be at Villa when the Premier League season starts in little more than four weeks' time. He will certainly play no part against Odense in the Intertoto Cup on Saturday after picking up a foot injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment