Villa Park exit beckons after Barry fined for O'Neill attack

Gareth Barry's open desire to quit Aston Villa for Liverpool leaves his future mired in uncertainty today; barred from Villa's first pre-season training session for publicly questioning the impasse over his future and uncertain whether Liverpool will match his club's asking price.

Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, incensed by Barry's comments in a Sunday newspaper that he had "found time to be a pundit for the BBC at Euro 2008, but he hasn't found time to speak to me", prompted the club to fine him two weeks' wages and order him not to attend the start of training this morning. That seems to leave the player's position at Villa untenable, though whether Liverpool are able to match O'Neill's asking price is still unclear. Villa last night denied reports that a £17m offer had been made, and Liverpool too said they had made no such bid.

Much depends on whether Portsmouth can provide Liverpool with the fee they want for Peter Crouch. Rafael Benitez insisted two months ago that he expected £15m for the striker. The south coast club are very keen to bring him back after an absence of six years and a deal is understood to remain a strong possibility. An agreement on Crouch might improve the chances of Liverpool being able to match O'Neill's £18m demand – or at least come close to it.

Villa indicated last night that lines of communication with Liverpool were open and rejected suggestions that the Merseyside club had tabled a "take-it or leave-it" final offer. But Villa again made it clear that Benitez, who has pursued Barry relentlessly since the end of the season, having bids of £10m, £12m and £13m rejected, is still nowhere near the mark as far as they are concerned. Liverpool's fourth bid is believed to be at £15m.

"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," Villa said in a statement yesterday.

Barry may well be reflecting that he was ill-advised to speak quite so volubly when he talked to a newspaper reporter during his holiday in Florida. The machinations of the proposed deal have become something of a perfect storm, with O'Neill initially angered by Liverpool's public discussion about their bid in May – a deliberate attempt to upset Barry, he believed. Benitez then suggested that O'Neill was being disingenuous and attempting to curry favour with Villa fans with his own attack on Liverpool.

Before the end of last season Benitez resigned himself to the fact that he must sell to buy and much appears to rest on his ability to secure the right price for Crouch and secure a deal to send Xabi Alonso to Juventus for the £16m he is seeking. Barry's situation has become so embittered at Villa that O'Neill could well try to hold out to ensure his captain is not able to play for Liverpool in their Champions League qualifier on 12 August. The saga could certainly drag on until the last minute of the transfer window. Benitez also seems to be set for a second war of attrition with Tottenham over striker Robbie Keane, another player on his wanted list.

Meanwhile, the Argentine left-back Emiliano Insua has signed a new three-year contract with Liverpool. The Under-20 international has made five first-team appearances for the club, featuring in the final three Premier League matches of last season.

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