Liverpool Football Club News

• Nickname:Reds
• Founded:1892
• Manager:Kenny Dalglish

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Gerrard urges Barry to move

31 May 2008 - 09:34:17

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has urged England colleague Gareth Barry to leave Aston Villa and join him at Anfield.

The Reds have made midfielder Barry their number one summer transfer target, with Villa boss Martin O'Neill already having hit out at his Liverpool counterpart, Rafa Benitez, for making the bid public.

Gerrard's comments are sure to infuriate the Villa hierarchy further, with the Reds skipper clearly a big fan of Barry.

He said: "Gareth Barry is someone who will improve Liverpool. We can't be disrespectful to Villa, he is still their player and we will see what happens.

"Naturally, they are going to try and keep hold of him and rightly so, because he is one of their star men. He has been a fantastic servant for them over many years.

"But, from a biased point of view, I want Gareth Barry to become a Liverpool player.

"He is a good player and I want Liverpool to be as strong as possible and Gareth Barry will certainly make us stronger.

"You talk about improving the team, the starting eleven and the squad and Gareth will certainly help Liverpool to become a better team.

"I am sure Gareth will find it hard to leave Villa. He has been fantastic for them, but, in football, sometimes opportunities come along where you can better your career.

"I think Gareth is 27 now and he needs to play Champions League football. In my opinion, he needs that now."