Liverpool target could stayAston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has hinted that he may hold on to want-away star Gareth Barry this season if no new bid is tabled by Liverpool in the near future.
He said: "Liverpool have not officially come back to us in any form of writing. It is a really awkward position here at this minute.
"At some stage or other there will have to be a timescale on it because we cannot just keep going on like this.
"We have got our own plans to make - and we shouldn't be at the behest of Liverpool Football Club.
"We have to pick up the pieces and I could go on for forever and a day talking about it. It doesn't really matter. We have to see what develops.
"As I say, we have not heard back from them in an official capacity."
He added: "Deep down we would all love him to stay at the football club. We haven't heard back from Liverpool for some time and we're not exactly sure where we all stand.
"When people say people are in limbo, I don't think that applies to anybody more than ourselves. We don't know whether to move forward or not with it.
"It's a long-running saga and I wouldn't mind it ending one way or another.
"My preference - and hopefully I'm speaking for a lot of Villa fans, if not all of them - is that we would like Gareth to stay at the football club.
"That would be great because it will be hard to replace him.
"But we're not sure where Liverpool stand now. It was never mentioned before about them needing to sell some players before they bought - that was never in the system at all. But seemingly it must be part of it.
"The point is that this has been long running and we're looking to see it end one way or another."
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