LONDON: Liverpool bid £17mil for Gareth Barry on Tuesday and told Aston Villa: That’s our final offer.
The package is £15mil now plus £2mil in potential add-ons.
Villa manager Martin O’Neill has told the England midfielder he can go but has demanded £18m for his services.
The latest offer is a considerable jump from the £12mil which was originally on the table.
And with Villa skipper Barry determined to quit, O’Neill may be left with little option but to accept Liverpool’s bid.
SunSport, who exclusively revealed Kop boss Rafa Benitez had moved to sign Barry, had also told how the star had urged O’Neill to let him go and that his big mate Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool skipper, was begging him to make the switch to Anfield.
Barry, 27, has slammed O’Neill – saying the Irishman was working as a TV pundit during Euro 2008 yet could not be bothered to ring him.
He added: “There’s no going back, it’s time for me to move.”
Villa would collect a £15mil fee with the further £2mil depending on Liverpool’s Premier League position during the length of Barry’s proposed five-year contract. – The Sun, London
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