Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Villa standing firm over Barry

03 Jul 2008 - 08:11:53

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Aston Villa have rejected an improved offer from Liverpool for England midfielder Gareth Barry, saying that the bid is still way short of their valuation of their captain.

The 27-year-old was rumoured to have been the subject of a final £15million bid from the Reds, but Villa still say that they will not sanction a deal at that level.

A short statement on the club's official website read: "The report in today's paper of a £17million offer for Gareth Barry is inaccurate.

"The club have received a renewed offer from Liverpool for the player, but that still falls well short of Aston Villa's valuation and has subsequently been rejected."

Barry has his heart set on a move to Anfield in search of Champions League football, while he was disciplined by Villa yesterday over an unauthorised interview with a Sunday newspaper in which he criticised manager Martin O'Neill.

Those comments have seen Barry being told to stay away from the start of pre-season training at Villa, with it looking all but certain that he has played his final game for the club.