So the players agent has stated that he wants to leave Villa for Liverpool. I'm really not sure what I think about this as he has done his time at Villa, however are Liverpool really that big of a step up?

Aston Villa won't be short changed though when it comes to selling him. He's been a great servant to the club and if he wants to move onwards then they should let him go.

I'm with Neil M - if he wants to leave then let him go and pocket the money.

You should stay loyal to your club and your contract!

I don't actually see Liverpool as being much of a step up and I also don't see Barry getting a whole lot of playing time there unless he suddenly gets a Spanish passport. Every year they flatter to decieve and only just scraped by Everton for the Champions League spot and I can just as easily see them slipping from the so-called top 4 next year. Aside from that all we have to think about is how Shaun Wright-Phillips' career has stagnated since leaving City.

Liverpool - a team that has gone nowhere in years. Discuss.

GrumpyBugger (interesting name) makes a good point about Liverpool and SWP. I see Villa have turned down £15m today and are holding out for similar money that Man U paid for Michael Carrick a couple of years back.

Think £15m is good money for him personally.

People are so quick to talk about the big influx of foreign talent taking positions away from homegrown players but when you can buy Deco for £10m or Barry for £15m its no surprise that teams are going for the foreign option. I suppose the difference is that Villa don't actually want to sell but you could look at several examples of hyper-inflated transfer fees for English players.

All quiet on the western front with this. I wonder if the Xabi Alonso deal is really that important to get this deal through?

This deal is still up in the air. I really wonder how long it's going to drag on for. Will Martin O'Neill returning from Euro 2008 help out? Surely he's still very much in touch with folk back at Villa. I think this one could drag on for the whole summer and I don't think it's going to be good for either party.

Liverpool should make a 'take it or leave it' offer and if Villa say no they should move on. This is dragging on far too long and that is saying something considering the Cristiano Ronaldo saga that is going on. That has kind of eclipsed this one.