Liverpool offer players+money for Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry
The move to Liverpool will tick several boxes for the Aston Villa captain: he gets to make more money (in a short career that’s always a consideration), he gets to play Champions League football and he gets to dream about the Premier League title as opposed to Champions League qualification. It’s a lifestyle upgrade, and although it won’t matter as much (I’m sure Barry has friends at Villa too) Steven Gerrard is being touted as another reason for Barry to leave Villa for Pool.
And then there is his candidacy for a midfield berth with the England national team. He is not my favourite footballer mainly because he has pushed Michael Carrick down the pecking order but the man’s game is more complete than Carrick’s and his versatility and ability to influence a game gives him an edge.
However, he still has 2 giants and a remarkably effective footballer ahead of him - Gerrard and Lampard are still England’s 2 best central midfielders and Hargreaves is king in that defensive midfield role. Barry cannot replace them unless one of the 3 is injured, and for all the hoopla about playing for a big team being a ticket to a regular starting spot, you need to be better than the players you want to replace and bring to the table what other cannot to actually get that spot. Some how being in rotation for Liverpool does not seem like the way to bring something extra out of Barry.
So while Barry can hope for England, the only things that will be guaranteed to him are a) more money and b) a higher level of football.
That’s reason enough, I guess (and Dr Fisher agrees). The only question is whether Liverpool can match Aston Villa’s valuation of him - if Carrick goes for 14m and Hargreaves goes for 18m, Barry would go in the same transfer fee bracket. However, rumours suggest that Liverpool have bid low, and are offering a players+money exchange (Crouch is the one being mentioned the most). Expect Villa to hold on and get at least 14-15m out of Liverpool - in terms of money and players - for Barry.
In any case, what’s going to be more interesting is how Aston Villa will cope with Barry’s departure, who they will bring in as replacement and how the money will be spent (a couple of cheap players or one big bid).
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Discussion - 4 Responses
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Well its actually like this for Barry:
He is going from a club with no chance at the Premiership to a club with no chance at the Premiership.
He is going from a club that may challenge the Top 4 in the near future to a club that may lose their Top 4 status in the near future.
He is going from a club where he is a regular starter to a club where he will be a bench warmer.
He will at best be driving Bentley rather than the Prius that he is driving right now.
Liverpool have the nucleus of a squad ready to compete for the title. Unfortunatley they are lacking in the ‘wide areas’. If these positions are addressed with players such as Quaresma then Liverpool will almost certainly ‘compete’ for the title. Aston Villa will not break into the top four, whatever anyone may say. If Spurs haven’t managed to do it I doubt any other team will. Villa fans have ambition but at best these are simply pretensious.
The arrival of Barry will almost certainly see the end of Alonso’s spell at Liverpool and I for one am glad. He has not maintained the same high level he set at R. Sociedad and in his first season at Liverpool. My only reservation with regards to Barry is his age. The transfer fee mooted to enable his arrival cannot be justified as a result. If he were say 23 or 24 then £12-£15million would be good value for money.
With Liverpool under Rafa Benitez’s guidance, Gareth Barry stands a far greater chance of not only playing in the Champions League, but ‘competing’ for it as well. That is to say reaching the latter stages consistently and perhaps even winning the trophy. Villa could do an Everton and make the competition, but there’s no doubt in my mind as to how they would fare. Group stage knock-out anyone? Finishing near relegation while competing on two fronts anyone? It would be Everton all over again. No?
Barry, do youreself a favour and join the 5 time European Cup winners and 7 time European Cup finalists. Gerrard, Torres and the Kop will no doubt thank you for it.
Yes Barry do yourself a favor and go buy yourself a Bentley so that they stop laughing when you drive the Prius up to the training ground.
I heard an interesting fact Liverpools owners have spent over 55million on transfers this season (actually they have spent over 70 but a lot was paid back from sales).
Tom Hicks wants the Liverpool fans on his side bad he could well push into the 60mill bracket!! and by the looks of the many players that look to be leaving Liverpool this season we could have a better spending kitty than everyone is expecting.
Barry is top class but not world class he will be welcomed at Liverpool and I imagine will play a good amount of games.
I also agree with the comment about the wide players although i think alonso is very under rated and is still a great creative talent and i will be very sad to see him leave. My dream signings would be:
Rafinha
Lahm
A.Young
Silva
Aguero