It has been a torturous pursuit, to say the least, but Liverpool are hopeful of finally completing the £18 million signing of Gareth Barry this week after an inevitable, albeit embarrassing, climbdown from Martin O’Neill, the Aston Villa manager, over the weekend.

Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, is keen to force through the deal as quickly as possible with the new season looming, although having indicated that they will cough up the funds to facilitate the transfer, the onus is now on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the club’s owners, to deliver on their promise.

BenÍtez had been told that he would first have to sell before he could buy this summer – the £20.3 million acquisition of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur was financed by the sale of four players – but with the manager still waiting on offers for Jermaine Pennant, Andriy Voronin and Xabi Alonso, Hicks and Gillett indicated last week that they will provide the money to sign Barry in what would effectively constitute a short-term loan. Now BenÍtez is hoping that they keep their word.

The ideal scenario as far as servicing that “loan” is that BenÍtez manages to offload Alonso, whose sale would almost cover the cost of Barry, but with would-be suitors deterred by Liverpool’s £15 million-plus valuation of the Spain midfield player, there appears to be little chance of that happening at the moment, as BenÍtez conceded in the wake of his team’s 4-0 friendly win over Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday. Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager did not deny his interest in Alonso yesterday, but did rule out any interest in Barry. “I don’t know if Gareth Barry will leave Aston Villa or not,” Wenger said. “At the moment, I am not on this case.” When asked about Alonso, Wenger continued: “I cannot tell you anything more. But at the moment we are not close to signing anybody.”

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This leaves BenÍtez looking to recoup about £10 million through the combined sales of Pennant, the winger, who is the subject of firm interest from Blackburn Rovers, and Voronin, who is being courted by a number of German clubs, including SV Hamburg. Sources close to Hicks have indicated that the Texan may be prepared to write off any shortfall.

If that proves not to be the case and Liverpool are unable to find a buyer for Alonso, BenÍtez may be forced to sell another player, most likely Yossi Benayoun, although the manager is loath to lose the Israel playmaker.

Manchester City have already bid £6 million for Benayoun and West Ham United, the Israeli’s former club, and AS Roma are also interested.

Providing that there are no last-minute hitches as far as the Americans’ ability to stump up the cash for Barry is concerned, however, a deal could be struck with Villa in the coming days after O’Neill finally paved the way for the summer’s most protracted transfer.

After their bizarre decision to set a deadline for the transfer, Villa softened their stance in the wake of talks between O’Neill and Barry and his agent, Alex Black, on Thursday, with the Villa manager claiming over the weekend that Liverpool have “all the time in the world to raise the money”.

Villa’s decision to impose a deadline in the first place was both puzzling and futile, given that the only deadline Liverpool and Barry were going to abide by, regardless of Villa’s claims about who agreed to what, was September 1 and the close of the transfer window.

Furthermore, having informed Liverpool in writing on Tuesday that they wanted to change the terms of payment, it was unreasonable of Villa, even accounting for the way Liverpool have dragged their heels on the matter, to expect the Merseyside club to rush through an £18 million transfer in the space of 24 hours.

It is expected that the money will now be paid in two instalments, with half up front and the remainder payable in 12 months’ time.

BenÍtez, meanwhile, has called for a rule change after Sebastián Leto was refused a work permit. The winger, 21, who will represent Argentina at the Olympics this month, may now be forced to join Olympiacos on loan.

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