O´Neill lays down the law to Liverpool

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is refusing to budge in the Gareth Barry transfer tug of war after warning Liverpool he will only sell the England midfielder for 18 million pounds (22.6 million euros).

O'Neill has turned down four bids of up to 15 million pounds (18.8 million euros) from Liverpool for the Villa captain and even wrote to the Anfield club to spell out his position.

Barry's attempts to force O'Neill's hand by publicly demanding a move cut little ice with the Villa boss, who fined the player and banned him from the training ground after he criticised O'Neill in a Sunday newspaper article.

O'Neill would consider taking Liverpool defender Steve Finnan as part of the deal, although the clubs disagree over the Republic of Ireland international's valuation.

With Liverpool struggling to raise the cash to meet O'Neill's fee, the saga has reached a stalemate, which only Benitez and his board can resolve according to O'Neill.

“We're still waiting to hear back from Liverpool after putting that proposal to them,” O'Neill said.

“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.”