Gareth Barry will sit out the first day of pre-season training on Thursday still unsure where his future lies after Aston Villa rejected another bid from Liverpool.
Villa confirmed on Wednesday night they had turned down a "renewed offer" for the England midfielder, although they insisted it was not the £17million one widely reported earlier in the day.
Liverpool also denied they had made a £17million bid, and insisted it was "not their final offer".
But on a day when Villa boss Martin O'Neill fined club skipper Barry two weeks' wages for his Sunday newspaper outburst attacking his manager's handling of the prospective deal, Liverpool were again told they had not matched Villa's valuation.
Liverpool had previously seen three bids rejected of £10million, £11million and then £13million and the new offer was believed to be in the region of £15million. O'Neill, however, is demanding £18million.
Barry had raised the stakes this week by publicly attacking his manager, and as well as being fined he was also told not to attend Villa's first day of pre-season training today.
Villa's latest statement said: "The club have received a renewed offer from Liverpool for the player but that still falls well short of Aston Villa's evaluation, and has subsequently been rejected."
Barry's absence from training will only heighten the drama over his move, with his current position at the club clearly untenable.
Barry upset O'Neill by intimating the Villa boss was more interested in being a television pundit for the Euro 2008 finals than speaking to him over his future.
He said: "It's seven weeks now since the season finished but while the gaffer found time to be a pundit for the BBC at Euro 2008, he hasn't found time to speak to me.
"The last time we spoke was just after England's game in Trinidad at the start of June - and that's it.
"It just made me think that the gaffer and the club were just saying one thing in public but were not bothered about me at all in private. What other conclusion can you reach?"
O'Neill earlier denied he had received another offer from Liverpool.
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Comment 10 - 29 of 29
stop seeking for gareth barry, try to buy lukas podolski for £18m, we need winger that can score goal...
we already have gerrard and mascherano in midfield, and for godsake please keep alonso, and u can see we already have great midfield in the world... we can apply 4-5-1 formation if we have podolski...
line up suggest forcoming season:
torres
podolski babel
alonso gerrard
mascherano
fabio aurelio skertel/agger carragher dossena/finnan
reina
U SEE WHAT I MEAN NOW RAFA?
nicholsondave. Ask your father? to change your your nappy, and put you back in your crib. Sweet dreams.
forget Barry @#$% that proposed 15-18 toward a winger or another top class striker... its gonna hurt not havin maschie for the start of the season but when hes back that will be like signing a top class player. if LFC really want a talented midfield go after van der vaart or maybe iniesta someone with a little more creativity to help spring torres
The fact is that GB has given Aston Villa 10 years of excellent service and it is a bit late in the day for Martin O'Neil to be telling him that improvement is on the way. Bottom line is that O' Neil is both unrealistic and very greedy. He should take the 15m and thank GB for his service to the club.
From Liverpool in Norfolk
18 million for gb,ok it is a little over the top, but from a villa fans point of view he was fantastic for us last season, broke into the england squad,and got the englands armband(for a short time anyway)and i remember most england fans wanted gb in the england squad,so what does that say about the player. what player isnt overpriced, reading some of these postings on here from lfc fans i dont see them mention 10+ million for crouch, or 10 million for carson, we can all laugh at these prices, but at the end of the day, if a club want to buy a player so much, then the selling club should get what they can for him.
The twilight of his career? He's 10 months younger than Gerrard, FFS! If my opinion is one of the most ludicrous you've ever read, then I suggest you read more.
nicholsondave. Are you drunk, drugged, or just brain dead? your opinion of Liverpool, and myfellow Scousers, is one of the most ludicrous statements i have ever read. As regards to Barry, he is overated, and just wants to jump on to the Liverpool bandwagon, to get his hands on some silverware in the twlight of his career. What are his chances at Villa?
a major English club swapping a spanish player for an english player can't be a bad think, but..... I don't think Barry is any better than Alonso. Is he??? I like Alonso. I can't really understand why they're getting rid of him.
Powell p YOU DO REALISE THAT RAFA benitez doesn't read this dont you. I think that liverpool should keep alonso, but sell crouch, voronin, mascherano, aurelio, and half of their wasted bench such as pennant.
With that money they should buy david silva for 15m, senna for 5m, lennon for 8m and maybe find some money for david villa or andrei arhsavin or even eto
Rafa,i suggest that your making mistake to sell Alonso and bring barry.i think Alonso is much better than barry.pls forget that barry matter.my opinion is that you bring spanish winger wizard david silva,and again dont sell pannat,he is very important is liverpool...think about it pls!
Re: pre-opp TS
Quote:
"I have my own ideas about what part of your anatomy your own hands are holding"
Well, it does take both hands...
If he hands in a transfer request, then his price drops by whatever his loyalty bonus is. Apparently this is around £3m, so as soon as he officially asks to leave, his price drops to £15m and he can be gone. It's greed that's stopping this from happening. The agent probably claims he can manipulate the situation so that both he and GB get their money. Unfortunately for GB, his agent is a moron, and has just made the situation worse for everyone.
If he really wants to go, then he should accept that he'll take a financial hit and hope to make the money back from Liverpool, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. £30m a year on interest alone? Ouch...
In reference to nicholsondave`s 1st comment. ;
You mention SG and Barry holding hands .,,Your words have a nasty smell of sour grapes , and childish immature dummy spitting .. I have my own ideas about what part of your anatomy your own hands are holding .
Get real , and grow up
In reference to nicholsondave`s 1st comment. ;
You mention SG and Barry holding hands .,,Your words have a nasty smell of sour grapes , and childish immature dummy spitting .. I have my own ideas about what part of your anotomy your own hands are holding .
Get real , and grow up
hm..i wonder barry agent is greedy or O'Neill is the one that greedy??if villa really want to keep his player why they put the price tag on him?just said its not for sale his still long way on his contract to expired and no other club will bother him anymore.liverpool wont be leeds because if they is they already bid 18mil straight on, but they not over pricing player.come on masch is 18mil how can u compare barry with mash?even 15 mil i think its already over pricing.just let that boy go O'Neill and all party will get the profit.that boy want a just want to taste of champion league let him taste it dont ruin other carear.he need it as it important for his international carear too.liverpool offer that experience but not the money.sorry nicholsondave, no offence but u not correct this time.
barry can sit on the bench at villa because villa have to pay him let the man go i think oneill wants to hold his hand so thay can go downe the lane together hand in hand oneill grow up or have you spate your dummey out again just have a good cray baby be a man let him go
I'm a snob? Yes and happy to be so. I'm born and bred Brummie, and I don't like that accent either. I think it sounds hideous. However, it doesn't make me want to claw my ears out as the scouse one does.
My implication was that Liverpool have *become* a shabby club. History is all well and good, (AVFC: 1 * EC, 7 * 1st Div, 7 * FA Cup is the history that we cling to, as you obviously don't know), but without pushing forward, that's just dusty trophies. I'm happy that Aston Villa have the perfect manager, the perfect owner (NB: only the one), perfect finances and a perfect stadium for the road ahead. It's not going to be easy, but it'll be fun trying. If GB doesn't want to be a part of that, then more fool him. However, he should still do the job that he gets paid to do. He signed a contract to play for AV, and if he doesn't want to, then he can sit at home, mope and text SG.
The respect between GB and the AV fans got destroyed when he said he didn't want to play for our club any more. We spent years chanting his name and he has now effectively spat on the shirt. His head has been turned by a greedy agent, his bessie mate and an unscrupulous manager seemingly more concerned with upsetting clubs challenging the status quo than with improving the state of his own. The best thing he could do right now is fire his agent, apologise to all concerned, and get his head down in pre-season training. I can't see this happening though.
Modern football and footballers at their worst.
rafa benitez has upset martin o` neill with his handling of this transfer possibility and stephen gerrard putting his twopenworth in also hasn`t helped so human nature has kicked in and martin o`neill will dig his heels in. A sad affair all round which governing bodies should look at both premiership from a liverpool issue and PFA from a gerrard issue. Gareth Barry has been unsettled by these two at Liverpool and he along with any other players should be wary if considering going to Liverpool fc
AJ, BIRMINGHAM
rafa benitez
nicolsondave stop being an ignorant prat "spoken english language" - how people speak with their own areas accents - what a snob you are. Who next Newcastle, Yorkshire - Brummies, Cocknies etc. As far as Barry goes MoN has not behaved very well either, all these Managers that complain are hypocrites when it comes to wanting a player, they do the same and you can't unsettle a player that already is thinking and wanting to leave for a better club. Anyone with any ounce of sense can't say that Liverpool are a shabby club that is just pathetic bitterness and name calling. I bet you wish you at least had a history to cling to. If you remember Gerrard turned down Chelsea. Villa is just being bitter and very greedy money grabbers and not treating Barry with respect that I think he has earned at the club. No doubt the fans will forget all that when they are turning on him.
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