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Barry could still join Liverpool

Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry looked all the way to be staying with the midlands club after suitors Liverpool failed to sign the player by Villa’s deadline of Wednesday.

However, it might not mean the deal is dead as Liverpool still want to sign Barry, and the player definitely wants to leave Villa Park.

According to reports, Villa manager Martin O’Neill and their chairman Randy Lerner will meet up with Gareth Barry and his agent this week to discuss the player’s situation.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stated earlier this week that the club would need to sell before they could sign any more players, after the £20 million capture of Robbie Keane from Spurs.

After Liverpool failed to meet Villa’s deadline of Wednesday to sign Barry, Martin O’Neill said he was delighted that the player would be staying at the club:

Now we can all look forward to the season ahead with relief, anticipation and ambition.

The stumbling block has always been Liverpool failing to meet Aston Villa’s valuation for Gareth Barry. If they can agree on a fee, the player looks likely to sign for the Merseyside club.

Liverpool sign £20 million Keano

Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane has joined his boyhood idols Liverpool for a fee that could climb as high as £20 million, depending on appearances.

28 year-old Keane had his medical at Anfield this weekend and penned a four-year contract, which should earn him £80,000 per week.

The actual fee is reported to be £19 million, with a further £1.3 million over the next few years.

Tottenham had originally reported Liverpool for an illegal approach to Keane, but have decided to drop that claim following the transfer of the Irishman. Also Liverpool have apologised for their approach, which Spurs have posted on their website:

Liverpool FC have acknowledged that the way its website reported comments of its manager, which were widely covered by the media, was inappropriate.

In light of that acknowledgement (they) have apologised and agreed to make a donation to our Club’s main charity, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Tottenham Hotspur has therefore agreed not to pursue its official complaint to the Premier League.

Liverpool should mark the end in an extraordinary journey for the great traveller, Robbie Keane, who has played for Wolves, Coventry, Inter Milan, Leeds United and Tottenham. He has always commanded a high transfer fee, and has scored goals wherever he has played.

Keane was Liverpool’s top target this summer to replace Peter Crouch, who went to Pompey.
Keane spoke of his thanks to Tottenham for his time at the club:

I would like to place on record my thanks to the board, players and fans of Tottenham for the past six years, which were the best and most enjoyable of my career to date.

I will never forget them. I would specifically like to thank chairman Daniel Levy for understanding, that, as a fan, joining Liverpool is a lifelong dream of mine and one I couldn’t let pass me by.

I hope one day the Spurs fans, who have been brilliant to me, can understand this too.

I have only good things to say about my time at Tottenham and expect them to go from strength to strength under Juande Ramos and Daniel Levy.

Liverpool have now splashed out nearly £32 million this summer, with Keane being the most expensive and highest profile signing so far.

Fergie begins mind games with Big Phil

The season is some weeks off yet but Sir Alex Ferguson is already underway with the mind games. Speaking in an interview the canny Scott has already written off Chelsea’s title challenge for next season, insisting that Scolari’s team are too old to improve.

Instead Ferguson believes that Liverpool and Arsenal are more of a challenge. This is clearly Sir Alex chancing his arm with Big Phil early on, seeing if he can poke a reaction from the Brazilian.

Fergy stated:

Chelsea are an experienced side and I don’t see outstanding progress coming from a team in their 30s.

I wouldn’t write off Liverpool or Arsenal. It has been understated what Arsenal achieved last season.

They suffered injuries at a bad time, Arsenal - in February they lost most of their midfield.

Who is to say that it would not have been closer if Arsene Wenger had kept his players fit?

Ferguson’s intentions are obvious, even to newcomers to the game, as he obviously will be very wary of Chelsea and will consider them his main challengers. Especially after the blues have spent £24 million on two Portuguese players, Deco and Bosingwa.

Fergie however went onto say that Chelsea will find it hard to improve, even with the experienced Scolari at the helm.

I’m not concerned about Chelsea, I just don’t know how far that team has got to go.

They have lots of experience and big-game temperament and in a sense Scolari is fortunate, joining a big club with a team of internationals.

Liverpool and Manchester United reported to Premier League by Spurs

Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been reported to the premier league by Tottenham Hotspur, over their pursuit of the players Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov respectively.

Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has stated that he expects the capture of Tottenham striker Berbatov to go through in a matter of days. This has angered Spurs, who say they haven’t accepted any offers from either Manchester United or Liverpool.

Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, said of Sir Alex Ferguson:

It is unbelievably hypocritical given his comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.

The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.

Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct.

Manchester United have made an offer for the 27-year-old Bulgarian striker Berbatov, but Spurs have not accepted. Liverpool meanwhile have made very public their interest in Robbie Kean.

Levy was particularly angered by Manchester United however, and explained how Spurs have made an official complaint about their conduct.

Today’s public comments by Manchester United’s manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players.

It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date

As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Manchester United.

Tottenham are holding firm over their insistence that they do not wish to sell either player.

Stoke City pull out of Carson hunt

Premiership newboys Stoke City have dropped out of the hunt for Liverpool’s goalkeeper Scott Carson. The two clubs had agreed a fee of £4 million for the player, but the deal now appears to have collapsed.

There are two other clubs looking at Carson however, Blackburn Rovers and West Brom. Blackburn will most likely need a replacement for rad Friedel, who looks bound for Aston Villa, who Carson was on loan with last season… this is getting complicated.

The deal between Stoke and Liverpool appears to have collapsed over personal terms with the player.

Stoke announced to the media:

Stoke City can announce that we are no longer pursuing Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.

The club will continue to look to improve the squad and remain hopeful of closing in on several new signings ahead of the Barclays Premier League campaign.

Villa were expected to sign Carson themelves, but now look to be targeting Tottenham’s Paul Robinson and Blackburn’s Brad Friedel.

Gareth Barry staying at Villa?

Long-time Liverpool target Gareth Barry could be staying at Aston Villa after all. Firstly, Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso looks to have had a proposed move to Juventus fall through, which would have paved the way (and spared up the cash) for Barry to arrive at Anfield. Secondly, Barry has been ordered to return to training on Wednesday at Aston Villa, according to the club.

Previously the Villa boss, Martin O’Neill, had ordered Barry to stay away and not report back for training at all. Villa play against Odense in the Intertoto Cup this Saturday, but Barry is not expected to feature.

Barry has shown signs of frustration at his dream move to Liverpool being put on hold by Villa’s refusal to accept any of Liverpool’s offers for the player.

Villa want £17 million plus Steve Finnan for Gareth Barry, Liverpool have refused to meet that offer.

Gareth Barry poised for Liverpool switch

The most talked about deal in football at the moment is Aston Villa and England midfielder, Gareth Barry’s, proposed move to Liverpool. Liverpool want him, they’ve offered a cash plus player deal (involving Steve Finnan) but Villa want more.

That’s about the size of it.

Villa have now made it clear to Liverpool what they want for the player, which they have sent to the Reds in a letter. Villa are asking for £17 million plus Steve Finnan, and they want the full amount paid within 12 months.
Villa boss Martin O’Neill stated:

Liverpool have come back to us and we have responded to their proposal with a letter. We’re still waiting to hear back.

It’s really up to Liverpool. I really don’t know how it’s going to work out at the moment. I’m sure there will be some sort of resolution at some stage or another.

Liverpool placed a value of £2 million on Steve Finnan, but Villa believe the Irishman is worth just half that amount because of his age, and that’s he in the final year of his Liverpool contract.

Who will win the Premiership this season?

With last season’s title race going down to the final day between United and Chelsea, this season promises to be just as close. Will it once again be a two horse race though, or will Arsenal and Liverpool finally be able to sustain a challenge?

Manchester United will no doubt start again as favourites, even though they’ve yet to add any big guns to their squad this summer. If they can hold on to Ronaldo, with Real Madrid getting ever closer to luring him away, they’ll surely be the pace setters again this season.

Chelsea now have themselves a genuine successor to the special one in ‘Big Phil’, so would be expecting to run United close, if not win the title themselves. They’ve already bought Deco from Barcelona, and Big Phil stated today that Drogba and Lampard would be staying next season. You expect Chelsea to get their cheque book out again too; they usually spend at least £50 million each summer.

Arsenal meanwhile are struggling to hold onto their stars, with Adebayor looking like departing to Italy or Spain. Their start last season was extremely impressive, but they fell away badly as their Champions League challenge also faltered.

Perennial under achievers in the league, Liverpool, will be hoping that this year, as they do every year, will be their year. Fernando Torres capped off a great season with a winning goal in the European Championships, meaning he’ll be looking for success again this season.

It’s difficult to see beyond the top four though, as their stranglehold on the Champions League places gets stronger every year.

Peter Crouch to join Portsmouth for £9 million

Liverpool’s lanky striker Peter Crouch looks set to join Portsmouth this week for £9 million. Initially Liverpool had slapped a £15 million price tag on the player, but have been forced to reduce their price as he only has a year remaining on his contract, meaning he could leave for free next summer.

It is believed that the fee could rise to £11 million depending on appearances.

Liverpool today announced:

We have reached a verbal agreement with Portsmouth and have given them permission to speak with Peter.

Crouch played for Pompey six years ago, and will form a new-look front line for the south coast side with former Liverpool target Jermain Defoe.

Crouch’s chances at Liverpool have been limited this season, starting just nine league games for the Anfield outfit. Despite having his chances restricted, Crouch has remained very popular with fans, as he’s scored an impressive 40 goals in just 135 appearances for Liverpool, many of those as a substitute.

Harry Kewell says goodbye to Liverpool

Harry Kewell, the player thought to be the missing piece in the puzzle when he joined Liverpool five years ago, has finally left Anfield and signed for Turkish side Galatasaray.

Kewell, still only 29, has been a perennial underachiever at Liverpool due to his poor form and constant injury worries.

Kewell said about his move:

You could say it’s a new chapter.

I wanted to move on and this is the best way. I can’t wait to get started, it’s just what I’m looking forward to, a new challenge.

Kewell joined Liverpool five years ago from Leeds United.

WinningIsEverything wishes Harry the best of luck in Turkey, and hopes that his injuries are well and truly behind him now.

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