Rafa Benitez had planned to sell Xabi Alonso to fund a move for Gareth Barry in 2008, but that was never passed on to the Aston Villa man when he pushed for the transfer.
Liverpool had submitted several bids in the summer of 2008 to get the deal for Barry over the line, with then Villa manager Martin O’Neill even writing to the club to outline the suitable terms.
“Liverpool have come back to us, and we have responded to their proposal with a letter. We’re still waiting to hear back,” O’Neil said at the time.
Ultimately, despite Barry having pushed for the move, the club did not meet the £18 million valuation for the midfielder as they deemed it “too high.”
“I got a call saying Liverpool were interested, I think Martin O’Neil actually got wind of it as well,” Barry recalled to Sky Sports.
“Quite cleverly, he put me up in front of the press and they mentioned it!”
Gareth Barry’s head was turned by Liverpool
“My head definitely turned, Liverpool is a huge club, so I was ready to leave Aston Villa at that period,” he explained.
“I had some tough conversations with Martin O’Neil, he said unless they pay the right money, I don’t want you going anywhere.
“Then it was a case of, ‘Right, I’m interested in going to Liverpool, what do I need to do?’ My agent advising me, telling me what to do as a player to almost get the move done.
“I was an experienced football player, but in terms of transfers, I’d never been through this. My mind’s thinking, ‘Should I be doing this?'”
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 31, 2008: Liverpool's Javier Mascherano and Aston Villa's Gareth Barry during the Premiership match at Villa Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
After some choice public words for O’Neil, Barry was fined two weeks’ wages and banned from the training ground for two weeks during pre-season.
The saga dragged on and ultimately Liverpool deemed they did not have adequate funds without selling, even though they then spent £20 million on Robbie Keane, only to sell him months later.
Gareth Barry did not know about plans to sell Xabi Alonso
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 31, 2008: Aston Villa's Gareth Barry in action against Liverpool's Xabi Alonso during the Premiership match at Villa Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
As for the talks that Barry had with Benitez, he explained: “Yes [I had conversations with Benitez], through his agent and a couple with Rafa.
“That’s another reason he put me off, he started talking about me playing left-back!
“That didn’t sit nicely with me. I was just starting to play regularly in centre midfield for a few years, and he spoke about me being a bit more versatile. He didn’t sell it too well.”
The transfer proved unpopular among Liverpool fans and players, namely for the role Alonso would have to play by being sold, but that was never brought up with Barry.
“Liverpool fans blame me for Alonso leaving, but not once did (Rafa) say Alonso was leaving,” he said.
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 31, 2008: Liverpool's manager Rafael Benitez and Aston Villa's Gareth Barry during the Premiership match at Villa Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“When I knew the transfer wasn’t going to happen, I got my head down. There weren’t too many boos!
“Mentally, it was a really tough period and I regret doing some things.”
As for what happened next, Barry initially stayed at Villa before moving to Man City the following year and later Everton and West Brom.
He finished his Premier League career with a record 653 appearances, which has now been surpassed by former teammate James Milner.