Gareth Barry tried to force through his move to Liverpool yesterday by indicating that his relationship with Martin O’Neill is close to breaking point. But the Aston Villa manager responded last night by insisting that Liverpool must find a further £5 million and meet his valuation of £19 million if they are to land their man.

The England midfield player publicly castigated O’Neill for failing to call him for a month and working as a BBC pundit at Euro 2008 rather than trying to persuade him to stay at Villa Park with an improved contract, but any ploy to induce Villa to lower the price will be staunchly resisted by O’Neill, who has been riled by Liverpool’s approach throughout this saga.

Barry said that it was O’Neill’s “disrespectful” attitude that had convinced him to leave for Liverpool, who had a third bid of £14 million rejected a month ago, but O’Neill responded by indicating that the player had been offered improved terms. Liverpool appear to be struggling to meet Villa’s asking price.

O’Neill admitted for the first time that Villa will allow the 27-year-old to join Liverpool for the right price, but he added the rider that he will otherwise be held to his contract, which has two years to run. Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, will back O’Neill to the hilt, even if the board at Anfield share Rafael BenÍtez’s view that Villa’s evaluation is unrealistic.

It remains to be seen, though, how high Liverpool will be forced to go to get their man and with money alarmingly tight at Anfield this summer, there is no appetite for a dramatically increased offer. Liverpool’s precise financial situation remains unclear, but, facing annual interest bills in the region of £30 million as a result of a £350 million refinancing deal in January, BenÍtez has been left in no doubt by Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the club’s American owners, that he must sell players to raise funds for reinforcements such as Barry, David Silva, the Spain and Valencia midfield player, and Andrea Dossena, the Udinese left back, who will join Liverpool for £7 million this week.

Unless significant sums can be raised, most plausibly through the sales of Xabi Alonso and Peter Crouch, BenÍtez will have to look to players such as James Milner, of Newcastle United, or Stewart Downing, of Middlesbrough, rather than Silva, one of the stars of Euro 2008.

O’Neill took all day yesterday to formulate his response to Barry’s public outburst. “The chairman and myself are surprised at Gareth’s comments,” he said. “Contrary to what has been said, we desperately want to keep him at Villa Park – and he knows that. We asked both Gareth and his agent to consider what had been discussed in our meeting, including a variety of options to incentivise the player.

“Gareth returned from England’s international matches at the beginning of June only to reiterate his intention to join Liverpool. And he told me that directly. But Liverpool’s valuation of Gareth has come short of our own. That remains the case at the moment. We have made our position clear. If Liverpool meet our valuation, Gareth will have his express wish to leave Villa Park granted. Until then he remains very much an Aston Villa player.”

Ideally, O’Neill would like to bring in new players before selling, but Steve Sidwell wants to speak to Luiz Felipe Scolari, the new Chelsea manager, to confirm that he is not wanted at Stamford Bridge before making a £5 million move to Villa. Blackburn Rovers are also loath to sell David Bentley, even for £15 million, before Paul Ince, their new manager, has had the opportunity to talk with the winger when he returns to preseason training on July 7.

Barry had vented his frustration at his manager’s silence. “My mind’s made up, I want to join Liverpool,” he said. “There’s no going back, it’s time for me to move on. I’m desperate to play Champions League football and that’s why I have to leave Villa. It’s seven weeks now since the season finished, but while the gaffer’s found time to be a pundit for the BBC at Euro 2008, he hasn’t found the time to speak to me.”

BenÍtez has sold John Arne Riise to AS Roma for £4 million and would offload Alonso to Juventus and Crouch to Portsmouth or Tottenham Hotspur, if his asking price was met. Charles Itandje, the reserve-team goal-keeper, is set to join Galatasaray for £1.5 million and BenÍtez is also eager to sell Scott Carson and Danny Guthrie, while Ajax have offered £4.5 million for Yossi Benayoun.