Gareth Barry is reportedly ready to pull the plug on his propose move to Liverpool unless a deal is concluded in the next eight days.
With the new Premiership season looming, The Times claims that Barry is, understandably, worried that his long-anticipated transfer has still not been concluded. Liverpool's first bid for the midfielder was made in May and over a week has passed since Martin O'Neill reluctantly announced that Barry could leave so long as Liverpool met his £18m valuation. Yet, far from signalling the end of the saga, Liverpool's failure to contact Villa since then has raised fresh doubts about their ability to conclude the deal.
'Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has been waiting patiently for Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to produce the cash promised to him last week, but that has yet to materialise amid rumours that the club's American owners have run into more financial difficulties, claims that were strenuously denied yesterday,' The Times declares.
The sale of Xabi Alonso would have financed the purchase of Barry but the Spaniard's exit cannot be sanctioned following an injury to Steven Gerrard. With Javier Mascherano on Olympics duty, Alonso will be required for next week's Champions League qualifier in Belgium. After also ruling out the sale of either Yossi Benanyoun or Dirk Kuyt, Benitez's hopes of raising the money required to recruit Barry will thus be dependent on selling Jermaine Pennant and Andriy Voronin.
The good news for Benitez is that Liverpool's transfer kitty currently contains around £10m. The bad is that he has yet to receive a single offer for either player and, according to The Times, an 'increasingly concerned Barry is not willing to wait much longer.'