Have Villa succeeded where Spurs failed or is the saga far from over?

Football FanCast columnist Alex
Dimond reacts to Aston Villa's assertion that Gareth Barry will remain with
the club next season, and wonders whether one of the summer's biggest transfer
sagas is really over.

There was another
twist in the Gareth Barry saga last night, as Aston Villa publically announced
that their club captain would be staying at the club next season. As posted on
the club's website:

"This evening Aston Villa can announce
that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club following the interest from
Liverpool over recent months," said the statement posted on the Villa
website shortly after 5pm yesterday.

"During discussions in the past few days a
final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of
and agreed to. This deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with
Villa."

The mentioned deadline,
agreed by both clubs, passed at 5pm yesterday. However, this does not
necessarily mean it is the end of the saga. Rafa Benitez, desperate to get the
27-year-old, was believed to have spent the past week lobbying Tom Hicks and
George Gillet, the club's chairmen, for the £18m required to buy the
midfielder.

The duo were believed
to have finally sanctioned the move, but not before the 5pm deadline passed.
Yet, with the funds still at his disposal, it is more than likely that Benitez
will test Villa's resolve one more time.

Martin O'Neill,
Villa's manager, was concentrating on the positives last night:

"Naturally we're all absolutely delighted
that Gareth will be staying at Villa Park and relieved to find a resolution and
closure to the saga," he
said. "Now we can all look forward
to the coming season with relief, anticipation and ambition."

However, many of
today's papers are suggesting that the player himself, now fully aware that
Liverpool have the funds required to buy him, will attempt to force a transfer
in private discussions with his manager.

Yet, considering
Barry's involvement and agreement in setting the initial deadline, such a course
of action looks difficult:

"We had a very positive meeting on Monday," revealed O'Neill last night,

"when it was agreed between Gareth, his agent
[Alex Black], Mr [Randy] Lerner [the chairman] and myself that a deadline
should be communicated to Liverpool to finally resolve the situation. Liverpool
were informed and that deadline came and passed."

While it is unlikely
that the saga has completely run its course, O'Neill and Villa will no doubt
start planning for the 08/09 season with their captain on board. They have
declared that there is "no chance" of
the situation changing.

Succeeding where
Tottenham failed, the club should be commended for their hard-line stance in
defence of their prized assets. With Liverpool never offering more than £13m,
the club were well within their rights to stand their ground and refuse to
agree a deal.

For the player,
however, it is a different story. Barry has publically declared his desire to
join Liverpool and will be disappointed that, unlike Robbie Keane, his club
would not respect his wishes.

But he needs to put
this out of his mind. With the club captaincy, European football and a
testimonial on the horizon, Barry has a lot to look forward to at Villa
Park. If he does still want to move to
Anfield, he should communicate this to his manager (in private), focus on
training hard, and then hope the Merseyside club finally make an offer
agreeable to the Villa hierarchy.

Isn't that how the
transfer should have been conducted in the first place?