I really regret what I did during my failed Aston Villa to Liverpool transfer

Auguries might not that be promising for Villa, on the back of a deflating defeat to Club Brugge while Liverpool hammered Bayer Leverkusen. The Reds have won 14 of their 16 games in all competitions so far this season and represent an imposing challenge.

However, an away win could lift Villa to third, putting them closer to Liverpool in what would be just the latest match in one of English football’s longest running rivalries, dating all the way back to the 1890s.

There has been plenty of movement between the two clubs in that time, with stars like Christian Benteke and James Milner wearing both the Red and Claret & Blue. However, not every transfer between the clubs has gone smoothly, indeed arguably one of the most controversial was one that didn’t happen.

Turn the clock back to the summer of 2008 when the Reds were sniffing around Villa captain Gareth Barry. Barry, then 27-years-old, was part of the furniture at Villa Park but was realising that to satisfy his desire to win something he might have to move on.

The Reds were perennial Champions League challengers, Villa were striving to qualify for the competition. In an interview with the Claret & Blue podcast in 2020, Barry lifted the lid on his failed move to Anfield.

“There was interest from Liverpool in the press,” he explained. “Martin O’Neill knew about it. He was quite clever, I remember, he put me up in front of the press – these are the games that go on in football. I didn’t know what was coming, the first question was what my thoughts were on Liverpool, the Champions League.

“Me, who’d never experienced a transfer really, I sort of said the right things as you would, and that was it really. So, I go away, finish the season and there’s bids now coming in from Liverpool. I’m speaking to Martin, I’m asking if the club was going to accept the offer, and to be fair to Martin, he said if the money’s right then I could go, but it’s got to be a certain amount. Liverpool couldn’t afford what Villa wanted, and to me, I was like, ‘Fair enough, if they can’t afford me then I’m gonna carry on playing’.”

There was toing and froing about a fee in the region of £20 million, around £17 million cash with Reds defender Steve Finnan as a makeweight, but it never quite happened. Liverpool claimed they couldn’t afford it, although they subsequently signed Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur for £20 million, and Barry grew tired of waiting on Benitez, in any event.

Especially after a conversation with the Spaniard left him far from convinced. “Martin said ‘Look, give me a year and then you can leave for a certain fee’. The whole Liverpool thing, it hurt me that they couldn’t stump up the money the season before. Then a couple of phone calls with Rafa (Benitez) and he’s talking about playing me the odd game at left midfield, left back and you know my head started to change. I’m thinking I’m not giving up the Villa captaincy, playing regularly to go and do that. I don’t care if it’s Champions League, I don’t want to be a bit part of nothing.

“I got advised to do an interview, and I was told if I did something like that, trying to rock the boat, you’ll end up getting yourself out. I remember speaking to my parents, asking them: ‘What do you think?’, and I remember my parents saying no, it didn’t sound good. I was sticking up for my agent, saying he was experienced in this role, and maybe they didn’t know what they were talking about. I ended up doing that interview which got me some bad headlines and definitely one thing I regret doing.

“Looking back now, I think why the hell did I do that? But I was in a transfer saga, my first ever experience, my head was frazzled because I don’t deal with all the media attention too well – it’s something I’d rather not have. It all gets blown up.”