Aston Villa FC

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Laursen glad Barry stayed

25 Oct 2008 - 12:27:29

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Aston Villa captain Martin Laursen is relieved that Gareth Barry remained at Villa Park during the summer.

The England midfielder was expected to join Liverpool but the two clubs were unable to agree terms with the Anfield side reportedly unwilling to match at £18million asking price.

Barry had gone public over his desire to move on in order to play Champions League football and was subsequently stripped of the club captaincy following a fall-out with manager Martin O'Neill.

But the versatile midfielder ultimately remained at Villa Park and Laursen was relieved to hear with the news.

"I was very relieved when the transfer window shut," he said.

"He (Barry) is such a great player and it was so vital he stayed because he can play left-back, in the middle or left wing.

"He was superb against Ajax (during Thursday's 2-1 UEFA Cup win), so we were all delighted he stayed.

"It's impossible to say whether we would have made such a good start to the season without him.

"But you look at Spurs who are struggling because they are not scoring goals, so they are definitely missing two good strikers.

"If Gareth had left we would have missed him a lot too."