Gareth Barry is being urged to quit Aston Villa and join Liverpool by his fellow England international and Reds skipper Steven Gerrard.Villa boss Martin O'Neill has stressed that he wants Barry to stay at the club and hit out at Benitez for revealing details of his bid to sign the player. However Gerrard has now been urging the player to join him on Merseyside whilst together with Fabio Capello's England squad this past week.
He said: "Gareth Barry is someone who will improve Liverpool. We can't be disrespectful to Villa, he is still their player and we will see what happens.
"Naturally, they are going to try and keep hold of him and rightly so, because he is one of their star men. He has been a fantastic servant for them over many years.
"But, from a biased point of view, I want Gareth Barry to become a Liverpool player.
"He is a good player and I want Liverpool to be as strong as possible and Gareth Barry will certainly make us stronger.
"You talk about improving the team, the starting eleven and the squad and Gareth will certainly help Liverpool to become a better team.
"I am sure Gareth will find it hard to leave Villa. He has been fantastic for them, but, in football, sometimes opportunities come along where you can better your career.
"I think Gareth is 27 now and he needs to play Champions League football. In my opinion, he needs that now."
