Most newspapers have come out with slightly different version of the 'Liverpool miss out on Barry' story. Typically they quote Martin O'Neil who said that Aston Villa and Barry's advisers had agreed to set Wednesday as a deadline upon which, if nothing was heard from Liverpool, then Barry would agree to remain at his current club.

That deadline came and went and, despite some rumours insisting that a deal was close, O'Neil's claims probably put an end to it.

The implication in this take of the story is that Liverpool and Rafael Benitez failed to raise the money required in time, despite being seemingly ready to sell half his squad in order to fund this deal.

Which is somewhat irritating because the truth is that Liverpool refused to be held at ransom by Villa and O'Neil. Although Barry is valued highly, that estimation does not reach the £18 million ceiling set by O'Neil which is what really killed the deal rather than the need to scrounge together enough cash.

Not that Benitez is rolling in it but, if he really was that desperate for money then there is no way in which he would have managed to sign Robbie Keane, a transfer that came about in a couple of weeks and for which Liverpool agreed to pay £1 million more than what Villa are asking for Barry. In this case, Tottenham's valuation of the player matched Liverpool's so Benitez was willing to pay it.

The opposite applies for Barry. It isn't the deadline or Liverpool's inability to find the money which killed the deal but rather O'Neil who priced him out of the move.