Aston Villa manager O'Neill insisted he and American owner Randy Lerner will make a last-ditch attempt to keep Barry - a £10million target for the Reds - at at the club.

But Benitez said in the Liverpool Echo: "If your captain wants to leave, it's a problem, but that's football."

The Spaniard's latest comments are bound to further anger O'Neill, who was furious last week at the manner of Liverpool's approach for the England midfielder.

The Villa boss attacked Benitez when he was told the Spaniard had claimed to have had "prolonged discussions" with him about Barry, even though Benitez had never been quoted as saying that.

Liverpool's manager has staunchly defended his actions, saying: "I think the right approach when you want to sign a player is to talk to the manager.

"I was talking to Martin O'Neill. I said we would like to sign Gareth Barry and asked what the situation was.

"He just said he needed to talk to the owner and I said okay. He will not have any problems with his supporters because he never said to me he wanted to sell Barry.

"We were also talking about (Liverpool goalkeeper) Scott Carson because they have the option to sign him.

"I have been very clear. The player had said before that he wanted to play Champions League football. We knew that and so tried to sign a good player. It is that simple."