Man City complete £12m Barry signing

June 2, 2009

Manchester City have completely a fascinating £12million signing of Aston Villa’s strong midfielder Gareth Barry.

Barry had been regularly be tipped to sign for Liverpool last summer but Villa gaffer Martin O’Neil stood strong over the clubs’ asking price and as such the proposed move never materialised.

It has been originally thought that Barry had a strong desire to play Champion’s League football so it was expected he would eventually move on to one of the top four clubs, which raises some eyebrows into the decision to make the move up to the Eastlands.

Barry, whose Villa contract was due to expire next year had been offered a renewal, but rejected this seeing increased prospects and ambition at the Manchester based outfit.

“There is great potential here, and I’m sure there will be more additions to the squad this summer. It didn’t take much persuasion from Mark Hughes, they are heading in the direction I want to go.” stated Barry commenting on the move. The England international clearly believes that City have a real chance at challenging the top four for the coveted Champions League qualifying positions in the coming seasons.

It is expected that City’s billionaire owners, The Abu Dhabi United Group, are going to splash serious cash this summer on the club and that Barry is only the first of many big name transfers that will make the move to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Gregg Hobbs, FootballNewsBlog.co.uk

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