There will come a time when Gareth Barry no longer plays for Aston Villa and that time may come because he decides to leave or we decide to cash in. I don't think it's going to be because he sees out his contract, which will be up in July 2010.
If Barry leaves, it's going to be to a team that can offer him Champions League football. We know this because he has told us. If we decide to cash in, one of those teams lining up with an offer, apparently, is Manchester City.
According to one paper, top of the list for Mark Hughes is John Terry, according to another it's Gareth Barry. I don't think Hughes will be the manager next season so I think this is all just pure speculation, but let's for a minute follow it through.
According to The Sun, Mark Hughes is willing to offer £6mn., Daniel Sturridge and Michael Johnson - two players I believe we've been linked to in the past - both young and thought of as up and coming. Will the manager be tempted?
Unfortunately, the manager has little control over this. He can say yes or no to a move, he showed that in the summer, but even if the manager said yes to this, he probably couldn't force the move through, unless the player wanted to go and why would Barry want to go to Manchester City?
Manchester City are a long way off Champions League and Barry won't go play for them when he really can't afford to wait around for them to get a top four finish.
If Barry is going anywhere it's going to be to Liverpool this summer and that all comes down to us finishing top three or getting past the qualifying rounds and into the Champions League proper.
It all starts today too, it would be great to see Arsenal lose and us win tomorrow, so that's where my money is going, if only because I'm a dreamer when it comes to ideal football results.