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Villa reveal Liverpool Barry bid
Gareth Barry has spent 10 years on the Aston Villa playing staff
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has revealed Liverpool have made an offer for England midfielder Gareth Barry.
But O'Neill angrily denied Liverpool had offered to pay £10m for the player.
He told the club's website: "Liverpool haven't made a straight cash offer. They've made an offer involving a mish-mash of nameless player exchanges.
"I'm particularly disappointed to hear that business is being conducted in public. We're trying to build a side here and we're not a feeder club."
There has been speculation for the past fortnight that 27-year-old Barry has emerged as one of Rafael Benitez's major summer transfer targets.
Barry, the Aston Villa captain, has two years to run of his current contract.
But Benitez wants him to form a partnership with his England colleague and close friend Steven Gerrard.
606: DEBATE
If Barry leaves, must we assume that his decision is based on the fact he doesn't think O'Neill's transfer targets are good enough?
POB
Barry, who celebrates the 10th anniversary of making his Villa debut next week, has made no secret of his desire to play Champions League football.
He earns about £40,000 a week at Villa and could come close to doubling that if he moved to Anfield or Chelsea, who have also been linked with the player.
The former Brighton trainee has already expressed a desire to hold talks with O'Neill to assess what his transfer plans are for the 2008-2009 campaign.
O'Neill pulled off a masterstroke in persuading Barry to sign a new four-year deal when he took charge of Villa in the summer of 2006. And the Villa Park boss said on Friday: "From my experience of working with him, Gareth is not someone who would be wanting to break contracts lightly. "A couple of weeks ago Gareth said he would prefer to wait until the end of the season before we start discussing things and I think that would be the right thing to do."
Gareth Barry has spent 10 years on the Aston Villa playing staffAston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has revealed Liverpool have made an offer for England midfielder Gareth Barry.
But O'Neill angrily denied Liverpool had offered to pay £10m for the player.
He told the club's website: "Liverpool haven't made a straight cash offer. They've made an offer involving a mish-mash of nameless player exchanges.
"I'm particularly disappointed to hear that business is being conducted in public. We're trying to build a side here and we're not a feeder club."
There has been speculation for the past fortnight that 27-year-old Barry has emerged as one of Rafael Benitez's major summer transfer targets.
Barry, the Aston Villa captain, has two years to run of his current contract.
But Benitez wants him to form a partnership with his England colleague and close friend Steven Gerrard.
606: DEBATE If Barry leaves, must we assume that his decision is based on the fact he doesn't think O'Neill's transfer targets are good enough?
POB
Barry, who celebrates the 10th anniversary of making his Villa debut next week, has made no secret of his desire to play Champions League football.
He earns about £40,000 a week at Villa and could come close to doubling that if he moved to Anfield or Chelsea, who have also been linked with the player.
The former Brighton trainee has already expressed a desire to hold talks with O'Neill to assess what his transfer plans are for the 2008-2009 campaign.
O'Neill pulled off a masterstroke in persuading Barry to sign a new four-year deal when he took charge of Villa in the summer of 2006. And the Villa Park boss said on Friday: "From my experience of working with him, Gareth is not someone who would be wanting to break contracts lightly. "A couple of weeks ago Gareth said he would prefer to wait until the end of the season before we start discussing things and I think that would be the right thing to do."
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