Liverpool table £10m bid for Villa skipper Barry

13 April 2012

Liverpool are understood to have launched their bid to sign Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry by tabling an initial £10million offer.

The Reds are believed to have formally contacted Villa yesterday with their bid for the England midfielder.

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.

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On the move? Gareth Barry wants to win trophies and enhance his England chances

It remains to be seen whether Villa manager Martin O'Neill will accept the bid for Barry who has two years to run of his current contract.

But Benitez wants Barry to form a partnership with his England colleague and close friend Steven Gerrard.

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 is on more than £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.

But it the desire to win trophies that is uppermost in Barry's mind at this stage of his career.

The former Brighton trainee has already expressed a desire to hold talks with Villa manager Martin O'Neill to assess what his transfer plans are for the 2008-2009 campaign.

Villa are challenging strongly for a UEFA Cup spot but Barry wants to see whether Villa are in a position to move to the next level.

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.

But he may find it harder to persuade Barry to sign a new contract and to convince him to stay with the midlands club.

O'Neill is keen to recruit Liverpool striker Peter Crouch as part of the deal which could see Barry head in the opposite direction.

It is understood O'Neill values England midfielder Barry higher than the initial £10million bid presented to the midlands club.

O'Neill would be more agreeable to Villa receiving around £8million plus Crouch if he is to lose the services of 27-year-old Barry.

The two clubs are believed to have made contact and O'Neill is already planning ahead with Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell a possible replacement for Barry.

It means Barry, who has made nearly 400 appearances for Villa, could make his final home appearance against Wigan tomorrow - nearly 10 years after making his debut.

Barry indicated recently that he has to adopt a "selfish" approach in his desire to make the most of the next part of his footballing career.

The disappointment of the Villa fans in losing Barry would be softened by the possible return of Crouch.

He was signed by the then manager Graham Taylor from Portsmouth in March 2002 in a £5million deal.

Crouch was loaned out by Taylor's successor David O'Leary to Norwich before moving to Southampton for £2million and then onto Liverpool.

He has become frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities with the Reds.

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