O'Neill tells Barry to reject Liverpool's advances
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has urged club captain Gareth Barry to spurn overtures from Liverpool and stay at Villa Park. Rafael Benitez has made an offer consisting of money and players for the England international midfielder, and O'Neill has criticised his fellow manager for what he sees as undervaluing Barry.
And while O'Neill is adamant that Barry's lack of Champions League football will not harm his England chances, he has also admitted he will not force the 27-year-old to see out the remainder of his contract if he doesn't want to stay.
"We've spoken to Gareth and our situation remains the same - that everyone at Aston Villa Football Club wishes very strongly that Gareth will stay," O'Neill told the club's official website.
"He still has two years of his contract to run and Liverpool have put in an offer that, well, it's almost debatable whether it is an offer.
"Things are very much up in the air and the main aim for the chairman and myself is to try and keep him at the football club. That's what we're trying to do.
"You can make people see out their contracts but in essence we would want a pretty amicable solution to all of this and we're still hopeful that things can be resolved in favour of Aston Villa."
He continued: "I understand a career only spans a certain amount of time and you want to get as much as you can out of that.
"But Gareth has played for England because he plays regularly for Aston Villa and his England place is not in jeopardy because he's playing for Aston Villa at the moment - frankly (Fabio) Capello does not need to see him playing in a Champions League game to be convinced."
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