SOCCER FA PREMIER LEAGUE: GARETH BARRY will try to break Aston Villa's resolve and resurrect a €23-million move to Liverpool despite Martin O'Neill's insistence his captain will be staying at Villa Park next season.
Villa said the England international's proposed departure to Anfield was off shortly after 5pm on Wednesday when, according to the club, Liverpool failed to meet an agreed deadline after months of haggling and several failed bids ranging from €13 million to €20 million. Liverpool, however, insist they never agreed to Wednesday's cut-off point and, having met Villa's valuation before the deadline, remain determined to grant Barry his wish for Champions League football. The midfielder is also believed to be unwavering in his desire to leave and will repeat his request to O'Neill and to Villa's owner, Randy Lerner, now that Liverpool have the money to secure his transfer.
Barry and his agent, Alex Black, may have agreed to Villa's deadline but the player is dismayed the club blocked the move when it was the structure of payments, and not the fee itself, that resulted in Liverpool missing the 5pm target.
Rafael Benitez had urged Liverpool's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to guarantee the €23-million deal earlier this week, having been told to sell before he could add Barry to the €25.8-million purchase of Robbie Keane, but Villa are understood to have changed the structure of the deal 24 hours before the deadline.
Liverpool had expected to pay the fee in more instalments than Lerner demanded and missed the cut-off by minutes as a result of seeking approval from their bank.
Despite Villa's stance, neither Barry nor Liverpool are prepared to concede defeat and O'Neill now has to persuade the midfielder to stay. Should the manager fail, Villa may accept Anfield's offer.
Meanwhile, Fernando Torres has said he is sure Keane will help take Liverpool to another level. But he hinted he did not expect to form a strike partnership with the Dubliner.
"Robbie has great mobility and versatility. He can play on the wing or behind the striker," he said. "Whether or not we are going to play two up front is down to Rafa, not me. When he signed Keane I imagine he had a clear idea of where he wanted to play him."
After making his debut in the goalless draw with Villarreal Keane spoke of his relief at pulling on a Liverpool shirt for the first time and paid tribute to the captain, Steven Gerrard.
"I was delighted to get that game under my belt. I have been dreaming about that moment since I was a kid," he said. "I can't wait to play more with Stevie. He is world class and able to spot passes that maybe others don't see. He created a chance for me which maybe I should have done a bit better with. We linked up well."
The prospects of Chelsea adding the Brazilian forward Robinho to their ranks before the Premier League season starts should become clearer over the next 48 hours because he is expected to meet Real Madrid's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, in London over the weekend.
Robinho has become Luiz Felipe Scolari's principal target now the manager has assessed his squad on their pre-season tour of Asia and Russia. Indeed Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, was sufficiently confident the 24-year-old could be lured to Stamford Bridge in a deal likely to cost in excess of €32 million that he went public last week on the club's interest in signing him.
As Chelsea prepare to take on Lokomotiv Moscow in the Railways Cup this evening Robinho will be in England with Real for the Emirates Cup, to be hosted by Arsenal, and Real are set to make their commitment to keeping him more obvious. Mijatovic is expected to offer him a five-year deal, worth an initial €3.2 million a year for the first two seasons and rising to €4.4 million for the remaining term, to persuade him to stay at the Bernabeu.
Just three days after his release from prison, Joey Barton has again fallen foul of the footballing authorities. The Newcastle midfielder was belatedly charged with violent conduct by the FA yesterday over his training-ground assault on Ousmane Dabo 15 months ago.
Barton, 25, was given a four-month sentence, suspended for two years, on July 1st after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his former Manchester City team-mate in May last year.
Daryl Murphy has signed a one-year extension to his Sunderland contract. The new deal means the Ireland forward, 25, is committed to the club until 2012.
Murphy, who joined from Waterford in 2005, told the club's website, "It's pleasing. I've always wanted to stay here and it's nice to get the extension.
"It's a big club, the supporters are great and we're going in the right direction. "It's a different club to the one I joined three years ago."
Roy Keane has also agreed to let Ross Wallace go on a season-long loan to Championship side Preston.
