THE cat-and-mouse game between Aston Villa and Liverpool over the signing of Gareth Barry appears set to continue as Rafael Benitez ponders a fifth bid for the England midfielder.
Reds boss Benitez was yesterday challenged by Villa counterpart Martin O'Neill to meet his asking price, after revealing he has long accepted his captain will leave the club.
Benitez has made four separate bids for the player, the latest reputed t
o be around £15 million, but still £3m short of O'Neill's valuation.
The Villa boss told his club's official website, www.avfc.co.uk: "Gareth has made his position clear and after that it is straightforward. We have put a valuation on him and Liverpool value him differently at the moment. That is what the stalemate is, it is nothing else.
"Gareth has pointed out he wants to go and if Liverpool come up and meet our valuation, he will go. That has been the case since the beginning of June when Gareth said he definitely wanted to go to Liverpool.
"We put a valuation on him and we have based this valuation on a number of straightforward issues, not least that he is actually a top-quality player."
The saga took a another bitter turn on Wednesday when O'Neill fined Barry two weeks' wages – around £80,000 – following a Sunday newspaper article in which the player severely criticised his manager's handling of the situation.
The full article contains 246 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
