It’s looking more likely that Gareth Barry will play for Villa in tonight’s UEFA game against FH Hafnarfjordur rendering him cup tied in all European cups till February, and putting the boot, finally, into the second longest transfer saga of the summer.

Hicks and Gillette must be secretly hoping for Barry to play this evening, and turn the attention of their unwillingness (quite possibly justifiable) to part with a large sum of money for a player they envisage to have little or no resale value. In today’s accountant driven game, a players value on the pitch is not so easily quantifiable by the ’suits’ as the prospect of a possible future transfer fee, however much success his presence on the pitch brings.

Martin O’Neil annoyed already at the manner of Liverpool’s approaches may wish to prolong the agony of the Liverpool owners by merely naming Barry as a substitute and waiting till injury time to enter Barry to the remaining 60 seconds of match action.

The target in the longest transfer saga of the summer is of course Ronaldo, who’ll no doubt be back to badge kissing and adulation from the Man Utd fans quicker than you can say ‘if it wasn’t for an ankle injury’.

There is the argument he’s far too good not be appreciated but you get the feeling that winning is everything to them. If a call went out for a supply of grannies for a players personal perusual in exchange for a winning goal in the Champions League, the retirement homes of the home counties would be a whole lot quieter place.

I can see there being a split at Villa Park with regard to Barry should he stay but I can hardly see a dent in the procession of number seven shirts exciting their megastore as forgive and forget seems the way ahead.