Villa lay down the law

Villa lay down the law

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill says Liverpool know what they have to pay to land Gareth Barry. The fiery Norther-Irishman has laid down the law to Rafael Benitez, and have finally given the Reds a solid transfer fee to target.

The Birmingham Mail says Villa rejected a straight £15million bid for Barry last week and it is understood their asking price remains £18million - or £17million plus fullback Steve Finnan, although many fans and pundits alike are saying that this is still too much for a 27 year-old.

Aston Villa initially wanted £15million, and then when Liverpool matched that target, they raised it to £18million. Now they have lowered it to £17million plus Liverpool’s long-serving right-back, Steve Finnan, suggesting that the former Ireland international is only worth £1million.

“Liverpool have come back to us and we have responded to their proposal with a letter,” O’Neill said. “We’re still waiting to hear back from Liverpool after putting that proposal to them.

“It’s really up to Liverpool. I really don’t know how it’s going to work out at the moment.

“I’m sure there will be some sort of resolution at some stage or another.”

Apart from our dear friend Christiano Ronaldo’s rumoured transfer to Real Madrid, Gareth Barry’s move to Anfield is one of the longest-running transfer sagas of the summer transfer window. However it seems as if this one is reaching its high-profile, and rather expensive conclusion.

By WattagoalbyRiise
(July 9, 2008)

Comments (7) · Related · Tools

Liverbird on July 9th, 2008 9:40 pm

Martin O’Neal is a COCK!!!
Jake on July 9th, 2008 10:04 pm

Why on earth do all the Liverpool supporters think we asked for 15m then upped the fee?

IT’S ALWAYS BEEN 18M. STOP WITH THE CRAP.
Dan on July 9th, 2008 10:17 pm

Where did you get your facts from?
I’ve never seen this reported before:
“Aston Villa initially wanted £15million,”
Godzvilla on July 9th, 2008 11:11 pm

The price for Gareth Barry has always been £18 million - it was never “raised” from £15 million. If you want him, come and get him, it’ll cost you £18 million! That was the message from AVFC from day one and it remains the same today. Liverpool may be one of the “Big Four” but that doesn’t mean you can just snap your fingers and get what you want automatically. All credit to Martin O’Neill for not being dictated to or bullied!
Redneck on July 10th, 2008 9:38 am

Barry isn’t worth £18m in my opinion, would much rather see the cash spent elsewhere for that price.
Liverpool FC - Page 137 - Electronic Arts UK Community on July 10th, 2008 10:03 am

[...] what they have to pay to land Gareth Barry. The fiery Norther-Irishman has laid down the law to Rafael Benitez, and have finally given the Reds a solid transfer fee to target. The [COLOR=#990000! [...]
WattagoalbyRiise on July 10th, 2008 1:44 pm

The way I saw it, when I first heard that Liverpool were after Barry, the price was £15million. Even SSN said it was, and I never heard or saw a figure exceeding that until sometime after. The first time I saw the figure £18million was when we matched £15million.

Who says we ever expected Villa to stick to a realistic value. We were always going to have to pay over the odds, but this price is just preposterous. Liverpool have not dicated to or bullied Villa. The fact that O’Neill (who I have a lot of respect for) holds all the cards, and Steve Finnan is our only bargaining chip, means that Villa are the ones doing the dictating and bullying. I have heard Villa fans saying we ‘tapped Barry up,’ which is just silly, and purely based on the fact that he said he wants to move.